PharMerica has created an antibiotic stewardship program to address core principles by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s geared to help providers prepare for guidelines in Phase 2 of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services mega-rule.
The program is available for PharMerica and non-PharMerica customers to help facilities create programs that satisfy regulations. This includes a customized facility program binder for goals and resources, antibiotic prescribing protocols and timeout policies, infection management guidelines for the 15 most common treatment protocols and patient assessment forms.
PharMerica executives said the goal is to help providers by using the company’s expertise in medication management and setting up a framework.
“This is a solution to help them. It gets them going and what I need to do now. When inspectors come in, they see an effort has been made,” Bob McKay, SVP Purchasing & Trade Relations PharMerica, told McKnight’s.
New regulations may be especially challenging for smaller or independent facilities, and the program can help, added Sonja Quale, PharmD, Pharmerica vice president and chief clinical officer.
“The number of hours that we put into this model framework was significant. To the extent we can facilitate and help and get people onto a level playing field, that’s another goal of ours,” she said.
