Farmacia hospitalaria : órgano oficial de expresión científica de la Sociedad Española de Farmacia Hospitalaria
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To analyze the status of the implementation and development of telepharmacy as applied to the pharmaceutical care of outpatients treated at hospital pharmacy services in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The rate of implementation of telepharmacy in outpatient care in Spain during the study period in the pandemic was high. This made it possible to guarantee the continuity of care for a large number of patients.
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The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the University Hospital of Fuenlabrada was forced to critically increase its capacity in the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this work is to describe the activities promoted by the pharmacist in the care of the critically ill patient in this context. A new organizational structure was designed, analyzing the tasks necessary to make the processes profitable. Two pharmacists joined the critical patient care to help the pharmacist who was already integrated in the ICU team. The development of the operational structure was carried out on three levels. The healthcare activity highlights the daily participation of pharmacists in the two clinical sessions in which the ICU teams evaluated all cases and made decisions. This in turn facilitated the pharmaceutical validation that was carried out in the critical units themselves. ⋯ In knowledge management, the participation of the pharmacist in the working group for the development of the hospital management protocol COVID-19 stands out. The daily presence in the unit and the joint work with the entire multidisciplinary team demonstrate the value that the pharmacist can bring. In addition to efficient resource management, support for clinical decision-making and improvement actions, it provides the climate of inter-professional trust necessary to respond to the complexity of the critical patient and promote joint projects.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is placing huge strain on health systems and professionals. Emergency departments and their pharmacy services have been the first to face this challenge before any other pharmacy units. This article provides a description of the experience of two public hospitals located in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Spain. Team working and reciprocal trust have made it possible to meet the unprecedented demand for health services and has facilitated rapid decision making. ⋯ Other strategies have included favoring communication within Emergency Departments pharmacy services, and between these services and Emergency Departments during the pandemic. Multidisciplinary cooperation and information sharing have traditionally formed the base for efficient and quality work, along with solid technologies that guarantee a safe use of medications. The crucial role of information and communication technologies during the pandemic may give rise to a new model of pharmaceutical care, which should not replace face-to- face Emergency Department pharmacist support and advice. Promoting the re- humanization of healthcare and pharmacy services is essential. An adequate technical training and the development of abilities such as flexibility, planning and coordination skills, and an assertive communication and management of emotions will be key to the successful management of unimaginable settings in the future.
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Hospital Pharmacy Service (HPS) in Spain have been impacted by the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the outbreak has forced HPSs to adapt their outpatient consultation services to Telepharmacy to optimize clinical outcomes and reduce the risk of contagion. The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze the experience of HPSs with outpatient Telepharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic and expose the lessons learned. ⋯ These measures are based on national and international recommendations on social distancing and hygiene. With regard to remote outpatient pharmacy services, teleconsultation with drug dispensing has been promoted based on five basic procedures, each with its advantages and limitations: home drug delivery from HPSs, with the advantage of universal access and the limitation of entailing a substantial investment in resources; HPS coordination with primary care pharmacists, which requires no investments but with limited access to some geographic areas; HPS coordination with community pharmacists based on a large network of pharmacies, which requires the patient to go to the pharmacy, without confidentiality being guaranteed for any patient; geolocation and hospital-based medication dispensing, which provides universal access and direct traceability, but entails investment in human resources; and HPS coordination with associations of patients, which does not entail any additional cost but limits the information available on the diseases of society members. Three main lessons have been learned during the pandemic: the satisfactory capacity of HPS to provide outpatient pharmacy consultation services in the setting of a public health crisis; the usefulness of Telepharmacy for the clinical follow-up, healthcare coordination, outpatient counseling, and informed dispensing and delivery of medication (with a high level of satisfaction among patients); and the need to foster Telepharmacy as a complementary tool through a mixed model of outpatient pharmacy consultation service that incorporates the advantages of each procedure and adapts to the individual needs of each patient in a context of humanized healthcare.
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The purpose of this article is to report the experience of the Department of Hospital Pharmacy of a mid-size hospital during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The human and material resources available in a mid-size hospital were more limited than in larger hospitals of the region. In this article, we describe how this Department of Hospital Pharmacy was reorganized to meet the increase in activity, the strategies developed and the lessons learned for future pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic had a higher impact in Leganes, a city in the south of Madrid, with a population of 190,000. In the face of the dramatic increase in the proportion of patients attending our hospital between March and April 2020, the Severo Ochoa University Hospital increased the number of beds by 24.5% and fitted out new premises inside and outside the hospital (sports centers). ⋯ This Department has been able to reorganize its processes and take over new responsibilities such as telepharmacy and home dispensing. Hospital pharmacies play a crucial role in pharmacotherapeutic decisions in hospitals. As in other Departments, training is the area more significantly affected by the pandemic.