pharmacy informatics workgroup pharmacy inventory informatics group update

Pharmacy Informatics Workgroup

Pharmacy Inventory Informatics Group Update


Workgroup Members

• Marian Daum• Rose Grealish• Adelaide Quansah• Ester Song• Georgia Stefanidis• Jolene Hallcroft• Naeem Mian• Spencer Schaefer• Dionne Roney


Overall Objectives

• To review current processes and software used for inventory monitoring at VA pharmacies.

• To develop a method which will guide the pharmacies to properly inventory and report nationally inventoried medications, in accordance with PBM and OIG regulations

• To develop a SharePoint site which will allow sites to post their inventory results.

• To develop ways to automate the current labor intensive inventory process.

• To evaluate software/reporting features that may be useful in VA pharmacies.


Main Objective

• How to accurately track products to within 5% variance using VA software or other tools available to facilities.


Problems

• Reports in VistA are package specific. Meaning that a facility must combine multiple reports to track usage.

• There is a one report within VistA that intended to be combination report. This is the Drug Transaction Report. However it is inaccurate and is updated by a nightly background job. Which can means it is usually out of date.

• Outpatient reports don’t exclude CMOP filled prescriptions. This is a problem with inventory.

• Multi-divisional sites• Inventory on hand numbers are inaccurate.• Unit dose (inpatient) usage is inaccurate due to poor returns

practices. • Multiple automation systems


Solutions• Third class software was developed to allow sites

to look at outpatient usage by division and to exclude or include CMOP.

• A FileMan routine was developed to look at inpatient usage according to BCMA usage and not by pick list usage.

• Other reports and practices consolidated into a report and check list

• Remedy tickets to fix the Drug Transaction Report


New Service Request

• Convert the outpatient third class report to national report

• Use BCMA usage to monitor inpatient usage. (with ability to edit if necessary).

• Create a report that will estimate inventory on the wards.

• Review all reports currently within VistA for accuracy.


Conclusion

• There is no single report within VistA that will allow a facility to easily maintain and variance rate of less than 5%.

• If a site is multi-divisional then outpatient VistA reports will be inaccurate.

• In order to determine a variance of less than 5% facilities will have to use multiple VistA reports or use other vendor software (ScriptPro).

• The information is in VistA, but very hard to get out.


Why were we fooled?• Management is looking at their facility as a whole.

Purchases for all divisions and usage for all division are combined.

• ProClarity and other tools are used. ProClarity has no problem determining CMOP prescriptions from local Rx’s

• Analysis is usually done prospectively. Many potential problems resolve themselves over a few days (invoice processing, pick lists).

• The longer time period reviewed the physical inventory totals become less important.


Accomplishments

• New Service Request for improved inventory reports.

• Draft guidance of determining pharmacy purchases and usage of a product.

• Better guidance for annual wall to wall inventories.

• VeHU presentation of Drug Accountability and inventory practices.


Future Objectives

• Create a check list.• Finish national reporting SharePoint

site• Begin working on best inventory

practices guidance.

pharmacy informatics workgroup pharmacy inventory informatics group update

Documents