EHR preference lists were not designed to manage a formulary, and the gap between what they can do and what formulary management actually requires is wider than most pharmacy leaders realize until something goes wrong.

Poor formulary communication costs health systems money in ways that rarely show up as a single line item, which is exactly why the problem persists as long as it does.

If you work in oncology or infusion, you already know that biosimilars aren't coming; they're here. For most drugs, your team has figured out the clinical piece. You know the science, you understand interchangeability, and you've read the FDA approvals.

The part that keeps tripping people up isn't clinical. It's communication.

And like I said at the Health Connect Partners event in May (to a room full of chuckles), formulary excites me. 😀 If you don’t believe me, here’s proof...

At Rpharmy, we place the highest value on our customer relationships.  If you know us, we’re always asking you what makes your day-to-day tedious so that we can alleviate that pain. This is how both Formweb and Rhazdrugs were created (check out how we got started here)!  Naturally, when a new customer joined the Formweb family recently, we wanted to know what we were doing right and what we could do to make their lives easier. 

During a recent visit with a health system implementing Formweb, they shared why they chose Formweb and the main differences they noticed between our software and their previous formulary management solution.  

Here are our top 4 takeaways from that conversation.

With the continued trend of hospital consolidation, the modern formulary is now going system-wide. In upcoming Safety First Blogs, I'll share more information on the benefits of merging individual formularies into one system-wide database, even when it's a mammoth job. In the meantime, here's a look at a still-relevant blog about where formulary has been and where it's going. 

A hospital’s formulary initially consisted of a simple book of medications approved for patient use in that particular organization. When hospitals made their formulary available online in the late 1990s, it was basically the same book, but now on a computer screen.

Are hazardous drug protocols documented and accessible in your facility? Seems like a no-brainer, especially considering all of the other potential upgrades and changes your facility may have to undertake to comply with USP <800>. But it’s among the most important pieces of the regulation because what good are policies if the healthcare workers they’re designed to protect do not know about them?

We’re continuing to expand on the content from our most popular blog in 2021 - “From Our Customers: The Top 8 Questions To Expect In Joint Commission Inspections.” This time we’ll explain antimicrobial stewardship and how to prepare for the Joint Commission inspectors.  

The popularity of our most-read blog from 2021 - “From Our Customers: The Top 8 Questions To Expect In Joint Commission Inspections” - indicates that hospitals and healthcare systems continue to hustle to ensure all i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed before a visit from Joint Commission, accreditation or state board of pharmacy inspectors. 

The popularity of our most-read blog from 2021 - “From Our Customers: The Top 8 Questions To Expect In Joint Commission Inspections” - indicates that hospitals and healthcare systems continue to hustle to ensure all i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed before a visit from Joint Commission, accreditation or state board of pharmacy inspectors.