Encompass Health Vice President of Pharmacy and Ancillary Clinical Services Shawn Myers joined Becker’s Healthcare “Pharmacy Leadership Podcast” to discuss innovative initiatives aimed at improving medication reconciliation and patient safety across the Company.
“We want to get it right,” said Myers. “The biggest initiative is continuing to advance all the systems and processes that are related to admission medication reconciliation."
He said the team is focused on strengthening the steps involved in gathering accurate medication information at admission, including new measures within pharmaceutical workflows such as patient medication interviews. In these interviews, pharmacists communicate with patients directly and review their medication reconciliation to ensure consistency across all care teams.
Myers also highlighted additional performance improvement projects, including a standard admission checklist and ongoing efforts to assess, coordinate and communicate standards across all hospitals. These projects are guided by Encompass Health’s Pharmacy Leadership Board, a multidisciplinary board consisting of CEOs, regional vice presidents, nursing leadership and other care teams. The board serves as a strategic sounding board to help determine which initiatives should be prioritized.
The pharmacy and ancillary clinical services teams use data-driven insights to guide future goals and measure progress. Encompass Health’s data science teams are working with Myers to provide tangible data on areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.