Media Hub / July 17, 2020
PharMerica, a BrightSpring Health Services company, has published, “Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate Prescribing Trends and Pharmacist-Led Outbreak Preparedness in Long-Term Care Pharmacy During COVID-19” in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. The research article describes the methods the pharmacy used to support patients and staff in long-term care (LTC) settings since the COVID-19 pandemic began and illustrates prescribing trends of hydroxychloroquine sulfate in facilities during the first 100 days of the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic.
Residents of long-term care settings have been severely impacted by the acute respiratory disease COVID-19, with hospitalization rates in COVID-19 positive LTC residents of more than 50% and fatality rates of more than 30%. In response to the outbreak, BrightSpring’s pharmacy division PharMerica implemented a comprehensive outbreak preparedness and suppression strategy to support our LTC clients nationwide. The pharmacy-led approach includes monitoring affected facilities, supporting facility and staff and prescribers, and implementing infection control measures that include employee testing strategies.
“Pharmacists serving long-term care facilities perform a number of important monitoring activities,” said Dr. William Mills, BrightSpring Chief Medical Officer. “We were able to track and provide special prescriber alerts to long-term care facilities, providing vital drug safety communication associated with the use of hydroxychloroquine. Our pharmacies supported best practices in infection control, enabling us to continue to provide essential support to facilities and their residents. We’re eager to share our best practices to benefit all of those in long-term care settings.”
Read the full study here.
Read the Argentum article here.
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