Pharmacy driven medication history programs are essential for accurate transitions of care and patient safety, especially in rural and resource-limited settings. Jenny Slavens, from IU Health Arnett shares how her team built a 24/7 regional program that provides medication history support for their community hospital and several critical access facilities. She discusses the shift from a nurse-led to a pharmacy technician-driven model, the operational challenges of scaling services across multiple sites, and the decision to use phone-based interviews to streamline workflows.

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Show notes:

[00:52] – Jenny outlines the structure of the medication history team at IU Health Arnett and how the program operates across facilities

[02:10] – Discussion of coverage for critical access hospitals and how the team manages varying hours across sites

[02:53] – The evolution from a nurse-led process to a pharmacy-driven model for medication history documentation

[04:08] – Why the team shifted from using web-based technology to phone-based medication histories for efficiency and safety

[05:20] – How bidirectional communication between pharmacy staff and physicians is maintained through the electronic medical record system

[07:03] – Establishing the goal of completing 80% of medication histories within four hours of admission to support timely care decisions

[08:55] – How the newly added Tipton facility improved from 10% to 72% completion of medication histories

[10:56] – Strategies for balancing staff workload across inpatient, surgical, and emergency admissions

[14:22] – Demonstrating the value of the medication history process and creatively using FTE staffing to improve coverage and efficiency

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