LOUISVILLE, Ky.—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 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 percent and fatality rates of more than 30 percent. 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 facilties, 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.”
About PharMerica
PharMerica Corporation is a leading provider of institutional and community-based pharmacy services. The company serves the long-term care, senior living, hospital, home infusion, behavioral, specialty and oncology pharmacy markets. Today, PharMerica operates 96 institutional pharmacies, 20 specialty home infusion pharmacies and five specialty oncology pharmacies in 45 states. PharMerica is a customer- and patient-focused organization serving institutional healthcare providers, such as skilled nursing facilities, senior living communities, hospitals, individuals with behavioral needs and seniors receiving in-home care, and patients with cancer. The company provides highly reliable and accurate medication delivery and support services to approximately 250,000 individuals a day with unmatched service reliability, cost containment, and clinical, regulatory and educational support for its clients and their residents and patients.
