With the ever-increasing prevalence of medical errors made through medication mistakes, it is important that the pharmacy in your care facility does not miss a step. You want to provide your patients with the very best care possible and making sure that they are receiving all of the medication they need with the proper dosing is key to having a safe environment for your seniors. Simple changes such as utilizing unit dose packaging or consistently evaluating your pharmacy service can help ensure that no mistakes are being made with regards to the safety and wellbeing of your patients.

Efficient Pharmacy Services

When it comes to choosing a pharmacy service to work within your facility, you need to know that you will be receiving highly trained pharmacists that will always act in the best interest of your patients. To ensure you continue to reach this level of care it may be pertinent to continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the pharmacy and the experience between them and the rest of your facility workers and patients. When evaluating your pharmacy, think of the most important aspects of the relationship between your pharmacy and your entire facility. Every couple months evaluate how this relationship is performing and find new ways to overcome any struggles. Not all solutions will come easy, but with some hard work you can create a seamless flow that is in the best interest of your patients.

Reduce Dosing Errors

One of the most common mistakes made by pharmacies is incorrect dosing. By utilizing unit dose packaging in your facility, every patient will receive just the right dosage every time. That is largely due to this kind of packaging housing a single pill within it, making it less likely that extras will be provided to the patient by mistake. In addition to this kind of packaging making it easier for the pharmacy staff to properly count out doses, patients will become familiar with how many packages they should be receiving on a given day and they will be more likely to catch the mistake before ingesting the medications.

Patient Safety First

At your facility, you know how important it is to have a smooth-running protocol in place when it comes to your pharmacy and the rest of the business. One weak link in the chain of service could weaken the entire operation, making your patients less satisfied and maybe even putting them at risk. Know that openly communicating with and evaluating your pharmacy as well as by utilizing specialized packaging for medications you will greatly increase the efficiency of your facility.

Stephen Craig is a part of an elite team of writers who have contributed to hundreds of blogs and news sites. Follow him @SCraigSEO.