Verbal orders are used only in emergencies and never for high alert drugs. Unusual drugs and doses are approved through the peer review process before prescribing. Transcription Greatly Reduced or Eliminated Computerized order entry systems can greatly enhance patient safety. Computer generated Medication Administration Records also can result in enhanced patient safety. Dispensing At least one pharmacist is available 24 hours a day.
Pharmacists work on the patient care units.
All orders are checked against patient and drug profiles for contraindications, drug allergies, interactions, and appropriateness of dose. A number of pharmacists do this now and there are good computer programs for doing it, but the limitation is that the information in the computer is only as good as what is entered. If, for example, you don't have a system for making sure the pharmacy computer has the information regarding the drugs to which the patient is allergic, then there is no way the pharmacist can catch that. It seems obvious, but it is not hard to find a hospital that has the computer programs available, but no system in place for keeping them updated. Dose range checks are used to prevent dispensing overdoses.