DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --
The 7th Medical Support Squadron pharmacy team must keep on their toes to ensure Airmen, family and retirees at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, receive the right medication within the correct dosages.
The pharmacy team, consisting of Airmen and American Red Cross volunteers, work together to process and deliver as many as 300 to 500 prescriptions each day.
The process is a bit more in depth than some may realize. The pharmacy technicians follow a nine-step process to ensure medications are properly given to the right person. The full process is as follows:
1. Patient pulls a ticket from the queuing system and waits until called. Priority is dependent upon whether or not the patient is active duty or a retiree or a family member.
2. If the patient is seen by an in-house provider, the technician validates the prescription, and double checks to ensure it is accurate. The technician also reviews any drug interactions as indicated via the Composite Health Care System program. If there are any severe interactions, the technician consults the pharmacist or makes contact with the provider for clarification.
2a. If the patient brings in a hard-copy prescription or was informed the prescription was called in, the pharmacy double checks the hard-copy prescription for accuracy. A prescription that is ‘called in’ is either an electronic prescription or faxed to our pharmacy. E-scripts aren't processed until the patient physically checks with the pharmacy in person or via phone.
3. Once everything is verified from the check-in process, the prescription is entered into the system and the filling process begins.
4. The prescription is either filled manually by hand-counting or via the medication cell or an automated prescription machine.
5. The prescription is verified by a final check by the pharmacist to ensure everything is accurate.
6. The prescription is then bagged and ready to dispense or put away until the patient returns in the event they decide to leave and come back.
7. American Red Cross volunteers usually give out prescriptions to the patients. Before doing so, they double check the full name and date of birth of each customer that is picking up their medications to ensure the right medication is going to the right person.
8. The volunteers locate and scan each medication the patient has to pick up. This ensures they validate each person receives the right medication.
9. The patient double checks the screen to ensure the medications scanned is theirs and signs verifying what is provided is correct.
The pharmacy is also responsible for ensuring that Airmen who deploy or receive a temporary duty assignment obtain the exact amount of medication they will require while they are away. In addition to ensuring Airmen receive prescriptions before they deploy or go TDY, the pharmacy also ensures Airmen’s family members are taken care of medically so that Airmen can focus on his or her mission while away.
“It feels personally satisfying that not only do we help the Airmen who are doing the mission, but also the ones who did the mission,” said Senior Airman Serena Tianero, 7th MDSS pharmacy technician.
The team also verifies that the prescriptions that come in from a doctor are written correctly so that a patient can understand them, calculate how much medication should be dispensed for each fill and verify the prescription has been correctly filled before handing it to the patient.
“Making sure your medication is handled properly and your health is taken care of is our highest priority,” said Tech. Sgt. Martha Watkins, 7th MDSS pharmacy NCO in charge. “We want to make sure people receive the correct medicine and the proper dosage. ”