[1.2] Healthcare as a System: Hospital Pharmacy

Vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, staff roles, policies, practice standards, and divisions of hospital pharmacy from Pharm Sci 152.

Hospital Pharmacy

The practice of pharmacy in a hospital setting and in any of its facilities or services; also defined as the department wherein legally qualified and professionally competent pharmacists perform procurement, storage, compounding, manufacturing, packaging, controlling, assaying, dispensing, distribution, and monitoring of medications.

Policy Statement

A formal administrative directive that dictates all that must be done within an institution or department.

Procedure

A step-by-step operational document that answers how exactly an established policy or task shall be carried out.

IV Admixture

Intravenous fluids mixed with one or more sterile products.

Unit Dose

Ready-to-administer solid dosage drugs prepared using an Automated Dispensing Cabinet.

Automated Dispensing Cabinet

A machine that repackages solid dosage forms into unit-dose strip packaging; it cannot compound drugs in liquid dosage forms.

Double-Locked Cabinet

A high-security storage unit designated for drugs requiring strict accountability and theft prevention, such as narcotics.

Biorefrigerator

A specialized temperature-controlled storage refrigerator used exclusively for biological substances.

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

The large-scale production of medicinal products where production is not tailored to an individual recipient.

Extemporaneous Compounding

The small-scale production of a drug product tailored specifically for an individual patient.

Dispensing Pharmacist

An entry-level hospital pharmacy position for a Registered Pharmacist, which includes training during the first 2 weeks.

Regularization

The official transition of a hospital pharmacy employee from probationary status to regular status upon passing the employee evaluation at 6 months, securing long-term employment.

Medication and Treatment Record (MTR) Form

An official hospital document where the bedside nurse must record every administered medication dose.

Uncharted Dose

A medication error citation that occurs when a bedside nurse fails to record an administered dose in the patient's Medication and Treatment Record (MTR) Form.

Automatic Stop Order Policy (ASOP)

A hospital policy that automatically discontinues medication orders when a patient goes to the operating room or is transferred to another service, and automatically stops antibiotics on day 7 unless continuation is ordered by the prescriber.

Floor Stock Drugs

Medications stored directly in patient-care units, managed by an Inventory Pharmacist, and kept under lock and key held by the Senior Nurse to prevent pilferage.

Administrative Order No. 63 s. 1989

Rules and regulations implementing dispensing requirements under the Generics Act of 1988 (RA No. 6675), stating that upon admission, patients or their relatives must indicate in writing whether they submit to hospital drug policies or reserve the option to purchase medicines outside the hospital pharmacy.

Formulary Drugs

Drugs acquired directly from the hospital pharmacy department, officially documented on the Medication and Treatment Record (MTR) in the patient's chart.

Non-Formulary Drugs

Drugs brought into the hospital from outside sources, administered by a private Registered Nurse, and recorded on an unofficial chart (often posted on the wall) to clear the hospital of accountability.

Medication Reconciliation (MedRec)

The formal process conducted by a clinical pharmacist to obtain and account for the comprehensive medication history of each patient, including past and current prescription, nonprescription, complementary, and alternative medicines.

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM)

A specialized clinical pharmacy service in which blood samples from a patient are analyzed to determine whether drug levels are therapeutic, subtherapeutic, or toxic.

Object Drug

In drug therapy monitoring, the drug that is displaced or altered as a result of a drug-drug interaction.

Precipitant Drug

In drug therapy monitoring, the drug that displaces or causes the interaction affecting the object drug.

Drug Information Sheet / Rx Acknowledgement

A standardized form signed by the patient or representative to verify counseling; placed as a sticker on the patient's chart as proof that counseling services were rendered by the Pharmacy Department.

Pharmacy Aide

Supportive personnel in the hospital pharmacy whose dispensing and preparation work is checked for accuracy by the pharmacist.

PhilPSP 2.0 Five Major Practice Areas

The core professional settings identified by the Philippine Practice Standards for Pharmacists 2.0: Academic Pharmacy, Industrial Pharmacy, Community and Institutional Pharmacy, Hospital Pharmacy, and Public Health Pharmacy.

Chief Pharmacist

The highest-ranking pharmacist in the hospital hierarchy, who serves as the official Secretary of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee (PTC).

Contract Research Organization (CRO)

A third-party external organization hired by a hospital's parent company to conduct and manage clinical trials.

Drug Information Services (DIS)

A hospital pharmacy division functioning as a mini-library facility for information dissemination, maintaining literature files, providing consultations, and publishing the hospital pharmacy newsletter.

Bunny Suit

Sterile full-body cleanroom protective apparel donned during aseptic compounding to maintain sterility, requiring minimal touching and keeping off the floor.

Radiopharmaceutical Services

A hospital pharmacy division (also called Radio Pharmacy or Nuclear Pharmacy) that centralizes the procurement, storage, and dispensing of radioisotopes and manages the efficacious use of radioactive materials.

IV Pharmacist

A dedicated compounding pharmacist whose entire workflow is centered inside the clean room to prepare IV solution admixtures and assess physicochemical incompatibilities.