...A pharmacy technician is a health care worker that performs his or her duties in the pharmacy setting under the orders of a pharmacist. Pharmacy technicians are involved in supplying certain medications to patients in the hospitals, assemble the correct medicine for prescriptions, and gathering and providing essential information regarding medication or treatment for a patient. The entry level education to become a pharmacist is a high school diploma. Pharmacist prerequisites are required to become a pharmacist technician. These courses include math, reading, writing, and medical terminology classes. A pharmacist technician also requires key life skills such as organization skills, attention to detail, customer service skills, and mathematical skills. After...
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...To start Teri told the advisory members that the committee meetings are typically held in March, April or May. The pharmacy technician is one of four fast track programs started last year after receiving a 14.5 million dollar Southern Oregon HOPE grant. Briefly, Teri explain that Southern Oregon HOPE is a research grant from the Department of Health and Human Services. The basis of the grant is to see if students living in poverty are given “wrap around services” will overcome barriers that may have stopped them from completing an academic program to would lead to a living wage job. The Southern Oregon HOPE research grant has given RCC the opportunity to create four new fast track programs, which included Pharmacy Technician. The fast...
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...of Contemporary Research Vol. 2 No. 6; June 2012 A Case Study of Human Resource Practices in a Private Sector Pharmacy in Trindad and Its Comparison to the Best Practice Model Sandeep Maharaj1SHalimar ALI1, AlliaHUSAIN1, Cassie JOSEPH 1,Dushala PRASHAD1 Sureshwar Pandey2 1,2 School of Pharmacy The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex Mount Hope, Trinidad & Tobago Abstract Objective: To conduct a case study on the Human Resource Practices in a Pharmacy and compare their practise to the Best Practice model. Method: An interview was conducted, with respect to the Human Resource Practice employed at a private sector pharmacy. A list of the questions used as a guide during the interview is attached in Appendix 1. The overall response rate was 100%. Results: The results obtained were summarized in a table. It showed at the pharmacy under study adopts 6 of the 10 best practices: Providing a Safe, Healthy and Happy Workplace, Providing Performance linked Bonuses, Utilization of 360 Degree Performance Management Feedback System, and Utilization of a Fair Evaluation System for Employees, Highlighting performers and Employing Open house discussions and feedback mechanisms. The practices which are not carried out by the pharmacy include an Open book management style, knowledge sharing, reward ceremonies and surprising employees with unexpected rewards. Conclusion: From the interview it can be deduced that the pharmacy employs most of...
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...I. Case Introduction In 2002, CVS was the one of America’s largest retail drugstores with over 4,000 stores and $24.2 billion in revenue. Over two-thirds of the company’s revenue was generated by their pharmacies. Despite the company’s size and success, the company was facing a serious issue regarding the service at their pharmacies as they had many customers who were unhappy with the service they received. To combat these problems, CVS developed a Pharmacy Service Improvement (PSI) team to evaluate and redesign pharmacy operations at CVS retail locations. II. PSI Opportunity In 2000, 7.2 million regular pharmacy customers left CVS taking with them 55 million annual prescriptions that could have increased revenue by $2.5 billion. It is estimated that if the PSI team can develop a better fulfillment operations system they could prevent 60-90% of customer defections. Additionally, through the PSI’s preliminary research they have found that 44% of heavy users switch due to the poor service they receive. The loss of heavy users is significant because they bring in continuous revenue streams In addition to simple customer happiness, through the PSI program the CVS team has the opportunity to make the people working at the CVS pharmacies happier, especially those working at the pickup window. These groups of employees must handle the continuously angry customers who are dissatisfied with their service. It is known that this job is so difficult that many of these techs...
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...We will utilize the Professional Compounding Centers of America, or PCCA, in order to help accomplish this goal. This organization offers many important benefits to compounding pharmacies in all stages of their development. Our employees will be trained by PCCA, which will hone their working knowledge of USP <797>, crucial guidelines that every compounding pharmacy must follow. In addition to training, PCCA will serve as our supplier, which will ensure quality products with which to compound. Furthermore, we will have access to numerous formulas that are specific to PCCA, which will greatly benefit our operation. The number of patients needing compounded prescriptions has risen in recent years, and we aim to capitalize on this growing demand. Our patient population will largely consist of patients from the clinics of Baptist, but we hope to expand our patient base to include anyone that could benefit from our unique approach to compounding; we are willing to expand our supply of compounded products as our patient population grows and changes. Most independent pharmacies offer some compounding services, so we will face some competition. However, our reliable, quality products and in depth counseling will hopefully overcome this competition. In order to compete with other pharmacies,...
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...Massachusetts, Consumer Value Store (CVS), has quickly grown to be the second largest pharmacy and convenience store with over 7,600 pharmacies and drugstores nationwide. Since the beginning, CVS has always strived to be the largest retail pharmacy-which led to the development of their growth strategy. Furthermore, CVS continually strives to “reinvent” the pharmacy and make healthy living a fundamental part of their customers’ lives. (Biesada, 2014) Initially, these strategies were influenced by the company’s mission statement and purpose. According to the CVS website, the company’s mission is to “provide expert care and innovative solutions in pharmacy and health care that are effective and easy for our customers” (CVS caremark corporation: History, 2014). Clearly, CVS is in business to provide expert care, although it would appear that not all of their individual pharmacists share the same feelings. Based on research conducted, it would appear that there is a general lack of customer service training as some pharmacists have allegedly been behaving rudely towards customers. Throughout the course of this initiative, we will be discussing the gaps that have been found and we will develop a training program that we hope will help alleviate these problems and allow CVS to fully realize their mission. Part II: Needs Assessment Pharmacy Prescription Practices As a result of organizational research, we have determined that there is a distinct gap between the company mission to...
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...REV: OCTOBER 20, 2006 Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A) Flum looked at Betses. “You told us it was bad, but this bad?” “I told you there were service issues in our pharmacies. But I have to admit, even I didn’t know the whole story.” “So what do we do about it?” “Well, we can’t have 67 solutions for the 67 problems we identified,” Roberts said. “Definitely not,” Grossi agreed. “But do you have an idea what we should do? If you erased that whiteboard and grabbed a pen, could you draw the ‘right’ flow chart for pharmacy operations?” “Actually, I think I could come pretty close. And I think my flow chart would look a lot like both of yours. I’m just not sure which parts of it would be easy to implement and which would be tricky. Mitch, you know these places better than anyone—what kinds of changes would make them really unhappy?” “Anything affecting safety. Everyone—not just the pharmacists—is a fanatic about making sure we fill prescriptions accurately and watch out for the health of our customers. So for example if we said, ‘In the interests of efficiency we want to have the system spit out fewer alerts about drug-drug interactions,’ we would get killed. The pharmacists would march us right out the front door of their stores and tell us never to come back. And I wouldn’t blame them.” Do “Got it. What else?” ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor Andrew F. McAfee prepared...
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...Costco Pharmacy POM Audit Team 7 Executive Summary Design of Goods and Services- Costco can be seen to be in their maturity stages of their life. Therefore, it is recommended for Costco to expand its Pharmacy department by at least 50%. Process Design-Costco processes prescriptions and provides the prescribed drugs to customers. For each prescription, pharmacists carefully review the dosage along with other drugs you may be taking in order to prevent any chance of medications interacting with each other. They also ensure you do not receive any medication which could result in an allergic reaction. It is recommended to introduce E-prescribing in the near future as it would reduce the duration for each prescription process. Layout-The Costco Pharmacy Layout can be defined as a Retail Layout. The main objective of a retail layout is to maximize profitability per square foot of floor space. However further research will need to be conducted to make a recommendation Capacity- Even though the pharmacy department is not operating at 100% efficiency, it is still using and managing their facilities effectively, operating at 72% efficiency on a daily basis. However, future capacity planning is required as the efficiency capacity is increasing as population grows. Productivity- The labor productivity is currently5 units per labor hours while the multifactor productivity is 0.040 units per dollar. After auditing Costco’s productivity it was found that Costco should aim to increase...
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...hospitals due to preventable medical errors.[1] It has also been reported that this is only part of the problem, as thousands of other patients are adversely affected by medical errors or barely avoid injuries that are nonfatal.[2] These medical errors not only cost the loss of lives, but carry a financial burden that is estimated to be in a range of $17 billion to $29 billion annually. Additionally, there is physical and psychological pain and suffering related to these errors.[1] Another consequence is that medical errors diminish trust and satisfaction in the healthcare system and in healthcare professionals.[1] Ginette A. Pepper, PhD, RN, FAAN, a Professor and Helen Lowe Bamberger Colby Presidential Endowed Chair and Associate Dean for Research, University of Utah College of Nursing, Salt Lake City, spoke on medication safety for the geriatric nurse practitioner (GNP).[3] Dr. Pepper was trained as a pharmacologist with a nursing focus. She was one of the first NPs to add "geriatric" to her title as well as one of the first NPs to have prescriptive authority. Safety Principles and the Medication Use Process Dr. Pepper noted that safety issues are of the utmost importance for all healthcare providers.[3] Nursing as a profession has a long history of regarding patient safety as a primary precept of the profession. Florence Nightingale stated in her book entitled Notes on Hospitals, published in 1859, "the very first requirement in a hospital that it should do the sick no harm."[4]...
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...Running head: WHAT ARE THE REQUIRMENTS TO BECOME A PHARMACIST? 1 What are the Requirements to Become A Pharmacist? Review of the Pharmaceutical Life Insert Name Lone Star College Cy-Fair Author Note This paper was prepared for English 1301 taught by Professor Jamil Summer. WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO BECOME A PHARMACIST? 2 ABSTRACT A pharmacist is a healthcare professional who is a expert on pharmaceutical drugs and how they act to fight disease and improve the heath of the patient. Pharmacists are responsible for the implementation of drug therapy with the intention of improving the quality of a patient’s life. Some examples of such improvements include curing diseases, reducing or eliminating a patient’s symptoms, slowing the process of a disease, and preventing disease. A pharmacist works with patients and other healthcare professionals in order to design, implement, and monitor a drug therapy plan specifically designed for that patient. Not only do pharmacists advise doctors and patients on prescription drugs, but they also provide information on the best medications that can be purchased “over the counter”. The most common goal of pharmacists is to move beyond their traditional role of simply dispensing medication and deal with patients more directly and on a more personal level. They strive to be a source of advice on medications for both heath-care professionals and patients. They also are dedicated to providing individualized services...
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...80-OL August 30, 2015 Intended Major Profile Paper As of my senior year in high school, I plan to major in anesthesia and minor in psychology. Anesthesiologists or Nurse Anesthetists are one of the top paid healthcare professionals in the world as of 2015. With majoring in anesthesia comes a tremendous amount of responsibility. If the anesthesiologists gives the patient too high of a dosage, it could kill the patient, which would cause a lawsuit. From researching other occupations that intrigue me, I believe I want to focus on becoming an anesthesiologist for the emergency room. I like the idea of having a buildup of adrenaline running through my body, while putting someone under anesthesia for an emergency surgery. From all the research I have conducted, there are several schools in North Carolina that offer an anesthesia program in their graduate school. I also have concluded that many of these schools are expensive, but offer a remarkable amount of scholarships and grants for those who are less fortunate. Many schools in North Carolina offer a program focusing on anesthesia. A few schools have stuck out in my research. UNC Charlotte offers a program for Nurse Anesthetists through the Carolinas Medical Center they are partnered with. UNCG also offers an anesthesia program through the Raleigh School of Anesthesia. Lastly, Western Carolina University offers a twenty-eight month Nurse Anesthetist program. Out of all my research that I have conducted on schools that offer...
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...decisions affect not only the employee’s but the company’s social opt squat. These resolutions include recruitment of highly skilled workers, company policies, labor relations, training and diversity, management of multiple locations, global business environments, employee compensation and benefits, and legal compliance. In addition, CVS human resources have to align optisquat with the mission and values of the company. CVS Caremark Organizational Analysis CVS Caremark is a pharmacy health care provider in the U.S. They provide pharmacy services, which includes mail order pharmacy services, specialty pharmacy services, plan design and administration, formulary management and claims processing; and Retail Pharmacy, which sells prescription drugs and a range of general merchandise, including over-the-counter drugs, beauty products and cosmetics, photo finishing, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards and convenience foods. As of Dec. 31, 2011, CVS has approximately 7,300 CVS/pharmacy retail stores. (CVS Care mark, 2011) CVS headquarters is in Woonsocket, R.I., with more than $107 billion in annual revenue and ranked 21st on Fortune 500 for 2011. Some notable facts about CVS they are the number one provider of prescriptions (totaling more than 1 billion prescriptions filled or managed annually), Retail-Based Medical Center Operator (more than 11 million Minute Clinic patient visits to date) and lastly Retail...
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...During my time as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), I was trained to respond to high stress situations. In emergency situations, my role was to locate and prioritize patients based on the severity of their injuries which, in some cases, were life threatening. One of the most valuable experiences I gained as an EMT was being able to witness firsthand how medicine truly interacted with patients and what direct effects the prescribed treatments had on a case by case basis. This real life experience taught me many valuable lessons that cannot be learned in a classroom or behind a desk. My experience has also led me to the conclusion that, as an EMT, my abilities are limited by my inability to directly prescribe medicine to my patients. As a licensed Pharmacist, I'd have the tools necessary to exhaust all possible scenarios, which would allow me to prescribe the proper medicine needed to treat the patient to the best of my ability. With modern medicine changing and improving on a seemingly daily basis, the allure of constant learning and growth is both intriguing and motivating. The day to day interactions and trust building with patients and colleagues, coupled with the pride I take in giving back to my community have inspired me to want to be a Pharmacist. My experience as an EMT has proven to me that a life in the medical field is physically and mentally demanding. Very few people understand how draining the medical industry can be. There are times when we as EMT's are physically...
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...University Prescriber writing errors happen in all forms, places and types. From what the medical staff thinks, the prescriber has prescribed and calls in to the local retail pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, or even the in house pharmacies: adding that the pharmacy processing these uncorrected prescriptions that end up getting to patients. If someone does not catch these errors whether it is the pharmacist, being asked by the patient, why there receiving this drug, because they thought doctor said something else. Therefore, the pharmacist may check it. In a hospital, setting a nurse may look at a chart and question the drug, and call and verify. However, many times no one questions it until the patient has a reaction, or what he or she are being treated for gets worse. Along with communicating with the prescribers, their offices, hospitals, patients, pharmacists also have to be up to date on the all laws, federal and state, and be watchful for those that try to fill fraudulent or altered scripts. Research suggests that there would be significant benefits if all prescribers would follow the same procedures for writing prescriptions, such as using computer generate prescriptions or E-scribe, because there would be a decrease in prescription writing errors, pharmacy mistakes and prescription fraud. Pharmacies call prescribers offices to clarify prescriptions information, on average 150 million times yearly. That’s what makes E-prescribing a valuable tool, it would monitor for...
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...issues that we should spend a lot of our finances on. The voice translation software with cost us approximately over 10,000 dollars. If everyone can continue to type in the system as we have been doing, you will find that I have a lot more improvements for the office that you will love. I understand that it is a lot of typing but if we install the voice translation software what will be the purpose of all the employees, no one would be needed in the office and all of you will be out of a job and we definitely don’t want that. Here goes my proposal for the office that will be a great improvement and less work for everyone. I was given a budget of 42,000 dollar’s to make sure all of the major issues are taken addressed. I did a lot of research and the total I came up with was 100,000 thousand dollars which of course is way over the budget I was given, so I had to prioritize the most important, the most affordable, and of course the most effective for the office. This is why I had to eliminate the voice translation, and it would not be included as one of the software to our new medical record system. Another issues that was brought to my attention are being addressed to my older nurses, I know that you guys are not very computer savvy and prefer to write your patients medical records by hand. However I came up with a great way to get you to...
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