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Role of pharmacists during COVID-19 pandemic in a Belgian general hospital
European Statement
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Author(s)
Lotte Deschepper, Kenny Noerens, Nilgün Kizilmese
Why was it done?
The COVID-19 pandemic caused limited availability of critical drugs and rapidly evolving treatment guidelines. Patient safety must be guaranteed at all times. However, the pandemic took the follow-up of drug shortages to an unprecedented level, increasing the risk of errors. Fulfilling this task was therefore difficult and new strategies needed to be implemented.
What was done?
In our hospital one pharmacist was dedicated fulltime to the COVID-19 drug management. Another pharmacist was committed to ensure the safe and efficacious use of drugs by conducting medication reviews and giving relevant drug and laboratory recommendations.
How was it done?
Microsoft Power BI ©, a tool to analyze data, was used to monitor the specific drug needs on the COVID-wards. Higher drug consumption was more rapidly detected and more specific actions could be executed. The available stocks in the hospital were also registered in a database and this information was updated and reported daily to the medical staff. In this way treatment guidelines could be proactively adjusted if necessary. Medication alerts were sent regularly by mail to ensure that all health care providers were informed about (temporary) changes in order to reduce the risk of medication errors.
Additionally, pharmacists collected evidence‐based drug information concerning indications, dosing, possible side effects, drug‐drug interactions and other precautions based on (inter)national guidelines. This information was used to develop a back-office validation tool that supported pharmacists to conduct medication reviews in a uniform manner. Daily updated reports from Microsoft Power BI © were used to analyze relevant interactions and contra-indications. Pharmaceutical recommendations were promptly documented and reported in the medical record of the patient and the physician was contacted immediately if urgent.
What has been achieved?
Due to the multi-disciplinary approach and guided medication use, therapy continuation could be guaranteed for all patients. Our validation tool resulted in the early detection and interception of medication errors ensuring patient safety.
What next?
A retrospective risk assessment will be done to evaluate our approach and a disaster plan concerning medication will be established based on our experience. The development of a computer-based analytical tool will be encouraged to maximize patient safety while minimizing risk of medication errors.