Health system pharmacies have had to adjust to new remoteworking models, on-site working models and pharmacy leaders have been challenged to keep their staff connected both personally and professionally because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While health systems have learned valuable lessons from the pandemic, they still face challenges dealing with drug availability, vaccine distribution preparation and ensuring staff is staying engaged while working virtually or through on-site social distancing.
Barbara Giacomelli, PharmD and Vice President, McKesson RxO, who has 30 years of experience helping hospital pharmacies, spoke with Becker’s Hospital Review about health systems’ top concerns, how they are keeping their staff connected and what lessons they’ll take forward with them post-pandemic.
Health systems’ top concerns, both personally and professionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic
One of the biggest concerns health systems have now is how staff members are juggling their family life with their work life, according to Mrs. Giacomelli. Some staff and leadership have children who are in school virtually and are finding challenges with virtual education and juggling work responsibilities.
Health systems have also been challenged to determine which staff members need to be on-site versus who can work remotely. Pharmacies are finding that not every role needs to be there in person seven days a week. Clinical pharmacists, for example, can be remote for a good portion of their position as they can do counseling and medication management via the phone or computer. But pharmacy technicians are the ones who need to be on site, as they are mixing and delivering the
medications.
Another concern health systems are facing is drug availability. There’s more consistency now in how to manage medications for COVID-19 patients than there was at the start of the pandemic, Mrs. Giacomelli said. But the challenge now surrounds helping hospitals secure an adequate supply of critical care drugs, such as those used to manage patients through surgery as more hospitals are resuming normal surgical volumes and some of the same medications are needed for critically ill COVID-19 patients.
McKesson utilizes a critical care drug task force that meets weekly to discuss inventory of critical medications and recent drug therapy management literature, according to Mrs. Giacomelli.
Vaccine preparation is another challenge health systems face, as there is still much uncertainty surrounding how a COVID-19 vaccine will come to market and what the distribution process will look like. Health systems are being challenged to stay up with the latest vaccine study data and information from the FDA and CDC to make sure they are prepared once a vaccine receives approval.
How health systems have kept staff connected through remote working models
As portions of the pharmacy staff at health systems remain working remotely, leadership has had to learn to effectively keep staff connected both at the personal level as well as for efficient patient care.
“Many health systems are conducting more calls with the entire pharmacy team, rather than just at the local level, to communicate any topics going on in the hospital and any patient needs as a hand-off between shifts,” Mrs. Giacomelli said. Having a daily huddle to ensure communication between all parts of the pharmacy team helps keep people connected and optimize patient care.
Health systems are also holding more virtual events with staff to stay connected on a personal level and ensure employees feel valued and engaged.
Flexible scheduling has become quite common, and it’s critical for health systems to make sure they’re meeting their employees needs and helping them juggle their personal and work lives, while maintaining quality patient care, according to Mrs. Giacomelli.
“It’s also important to make sure employees are taking time off,” Mrs. Giacomelli said. “In the beginning of the pandemic, many people weren’t taking time off as they recognized the need to be present and support their team, but it’s critical for staff to take the mental breaks they need. Health systems should encourage their staff to take time off,” according to Mrs. Giacomelli.
Lessons learned that health system pharmacies will carry forward post-pandemic
“One of the biggest lessons hospital pharmacies have learned due to the COVID-19 pandemic is to be more aware of drug inventory levels,” Mrs. Giacomelli said.
It’s important for health systems going forward to have more open communication with drug distributors about their needs and do more predictive demand analytics rather than reactive demand. Communicating things such as how many beds in the ICU are full can help distributors better determine health systems’ needs.
“Every health system does disaster planning, but usually only for a short term such as a tornado or other natural disaster. But now, health systems have learned to plan for a much longer-term disaster/pandemic. In planning for future waves of COVID-19, hospitals should look at their historic demand to predict future needs and try to manage that closely with their distributor,” Mrs. Giacomelli said.