Driving improvement in medicines management

Achieving best practice in medicines management has long been shown to help reduce the likelihood of medication errors, leading to improvements in patient experience and health outcomes. By reducing drug wastage and minimising the number of preventable drug-related emergencies in hospitals, effective medicines management can also help deliver substantial cost savings. All of which suggests a focus on innovation in medicines management is to the benefit of everyone involved – patients, healthcare teams and hospital management.

Traditional reporting methods

Reporting by the visiting clinical pharmacist forms an important part of a pharmacy service designed to support medicines management. Traditionally, the pharmacist makes hand written records during their time in the hospital in the patient clinical notes, or leaves written notes which are usually attached to the patient’s prescription chart.