Jim Pattison Outpatient Centre Care and Surgery Centre Pharmacy Team
Jim Pattison Outpatient Centre Care and Surgery Centre Pharmacy Team
Profile submitted by: May Leung
Brief description of role or responsibilities
Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre (JPOCSC) clinical pharmacists are a unique group that deliver clinical pharmacy services in an ambulatory care setting. They help initiate and optimize drug therapy, provide ongoing monitoring as well as the necessary education to increase adherence to drug therapy. Currently, pharmacists at JPOCSC cover a variety of speciality clinics which include: anticoagulation management/ thrombosis, heart health, lipid, diabetes, HIV/hepatitis C, specialized seniors, neurology, stroke prevention, movement disorder, chronic pain, Home IV, Surrey New Canadian and Surrey-Whalley urgent primary care clinic.
Describe how the individual or team made a positive contribution to patient care or their pharmacy department:
One of the main goal of JPOCSC is to reduce congestion in acute care and to prevent hospital re-admission by improving the health and wellness of the population. Despite covering individual specialty clinics, JPOCSC pharmacists offers a holistic approach to ensure patient-centered care, and often work together to identify patients that would benefit from services available at different clinics.
A real life example took place recently on a Friday afternoon where a patient being treated for line infection on intravenous antibiotics at JPOCSC Home IV program was discovered to have a thrombus in the right IJ/brachiocephalic vein junction on an ordered Doppler ultrasound. Instead of referring the patient back to acute care for treatment, the Home IV clinic pharmacist assessed the patient’s situation and discussed the case with her colleague working in the Anticoagulation Management Clinic on how to best manage the patient. Her colleague helped her review the patient’s medications to assess for drug interactions with anticoagulants while the Home IV pharmacist was coordinating the care surrounding the patient’s changes in antibiotic plan. After determining the patient was appropriate for outpatient care, the Home IV team started the patient on anticoagulation and referred the patient to the Anticoagulation Management Clinic/Thrombosis Clinic for further counselling and follow up of the duration of her anticoagulation. Patient was grateful that she can return home instead of enduring the long wait at ED.
The pharmacist’s quick thinking successfully prevented a patient visit to the local ED. This is just one of the many examples that highlight how JPOCSC pharmacists are able to work as a team and utilize available resources effectively to come up with the best treatment plan for their patients.