CEO Darcy J. Davis spotlights teamwork of the District's Lantana Pharmacy

Gautam Patel, Pharmacist, Lantana Pharmacy

My mission for my latest “Walk a Mile” adventure was to follow Gautam (pronounced Gow-tam) Patel at the Health Care District’s Lantana Pharmacy. Two things became clear to me very quickly upon arriving. First, there wasn’t much room to walk, so no “miles” would be accomplished today. And secondly, there was no following Gautam without following the entire pharmacy team.

In these very tight quarters there was tremendous organization, precision and structure. In fact, to fill just one prescription, it might be touched by all seven employees before the patient receives it. There is an ongoing necessity to check, recheck and verify. Every single prescription goes through multiple steps in order to assure that there are no mistakes.

After all, these are life-saving drugs and supplies. If the process were to break down, the consequences could be dire. This team knows that and steps up to that challenge.

“Somebody’s Watching Me”

If you’ve ever felt like you are being watched while doing your job, consider the amount of oversight that the Pharmacy is subject to.

Not only do the “regular” agencies, like AHCA and DOH provide oversight, but the DEA, Board of Pharmacy, Department of Professional Regulation and HRSA are all reviewing licenses, processes and everything in between, not to mention Health Care District-imposed rules and procedures. There is no room for error and the stakes are high.

Darcy with Gautam. "He runs a tight ship with audit trails for every single step."

Why do they do it?

Why would anyone choose to work in a job subject to so much scrutiny? There’s an easy answer for this team: ”…to make a difference in people’s lives.” Gautam has worked in retail pharmacy for many years but came to the Health Care District’s Pharmacy about a year ago. He said that the difference between our mission-based organization and a for-profit store is being able to spend a little more time with the patient. Most of the patients that come to our clinics are grateful and appreciative of what we provide. They are typically uninsured, without much material wealth. Often they have COPD, diabetes or high blood pressure. They are also frequently Creole or Spanish-speaking. Thank goodness for Maryse who speaks, English, Creole and French and for Pierre who speaks English, Creole and Spanish!

The Other Stuff

The day that I arrived to shadow the Lantana pharmacy team, we were still watching for severe weather. Many people may not know that in the event that Palm Beach County is affected by severe weather, such as a hurricane, the pharmacy teams play a critical role. Our distribution center becomes a key supplier for emergency supplies, medicines, and staff. The pharmacists and technicians are prepared to go to the county’s emergency Special Needs Shelter to help our fragile population in order to avoid a disruption in their medications.

Everyone is cross-trained

Not only is everyone cross-trained on multiple steps in the filling process, but all staff have worked at other Health Care District Pharmacy locations. There is a true sense of working towards a common goal, which results in a clear sense of teamwork. If one location gets overburdened with volume, another pharmacy can assist in the workload. The pharmacy software system is linked and the prescriptions can be typed and pre-verified remotely. The day I was on-site in Lantana, the Lake Worth prescriptions were being filled by this group since the Lake Worth Pharmacy was closed due to facility maintenance issues.

Step 1: Reception

Shiree Blake, Registered Pharmacy Tech, uses the electronic prescriptions to enter patients into the system, or to link new orders to existing patient records.

Prescriptions, including quantities, are matched to the pharmacy formulary. Physician signatures are matched to authorized HCD doctors. Financial information is documented.

Step 2: Data Entry

Shugofa “Sha” Joseph, Registered Pharmacy Tech, was performing the data entry step of the process. She confirms that the patient information entered in the previous step is consistent with the electronic prescription information and reviews the patient’s electronic medical record information. Once that is complete, she enters the drug, quantity, directions, and any other information from the prescription.

Step 3: Pre-Verification

Jennifer Netzer, Registered Pharmacist, reviews the information that was entered by the technician during Data Entry. She confirms that all prescription information was entered correctly and that the financial status of the patient is properly reflected. Anything that appears incorrect will be sent back electronically to the originating individual for correction.

Step 4: Product Dispensing

Pierre Demesmin is a Registered Pharmacy Tech. While I was there, he was putting pills in bottles and matching medication to the system-produced labels. He must confirm that the pill on the computer screen is the same as what comes out of the stock bottle and what goes into the patient pill bottle. He completes a patient order and passes it on to the pharmacist. At the same time he was multitasking by responding to Spanish-speaking patient inquiries.

Step 5: Pharmacist Review

In the final phase Gautam confirms that all of the steps came together successfully. He does a last review of the prescription with the items in the bag for pick-up. He also reviews to make sure that the drug notes and patient instructions are included.

Step 6: Patient Pick Up

Maryse Madeus, Registered Pharmacy Tech, has the job of interfacing with the patients. She takes any hand-delivered prescriptions and verifies patient identities before handing off their medications. She is constantly moving as she works to meet patient expectations on the phone and face-to-face.