To: FSHP Award Nominations Committee From: Robert A. Besser, R.Ph., M.S. Date: April 30, 2015
RE: NOMINATION – MEDICATION SAFETY AWARD
I would like to nominate FSHP member, Haesuk Heagney, Pharm. D. to receive the 2015 FSHP Medication Safety Award for her innovative and collaborative approach to Medication Safety. Haesuk, is a recent graduate from University of Florida College of Pharmacy, and successfully completed an ASHP accredited PGY-1 residency at Mayo Clinic Hospital of Jacksonville in June 2012, where she accepted a fulltime clinical pharmacist position. Soon after, she agreed to take on the responsibilities of Medication Safety Pharmacist for our facility in addition to her routine clinical duties. This involves a wide scope of responsibility for both inpatient and community pharmacy practice environments. Upon mastering the key concepts of an effective medication safety program, she has excelled in bringing our program to the “next level”! She has integrated technology in communicating medication misadventures to the pharmacy, nursing and medical staff. A number of medication system improvements have been made as a result of her efforts. Some operational changes include the way insulin and heparin are ordered, prepared, labelled, dispensed, and administered. She continues to keep the staff focused on medication
misadventures in a systematic, multidisciplinary, and non-threatening manner. Her findings are effectively communicated to the house wide Safety Committee to bring about respect for the Department’s efforts to continue to build on the safe patient care environment at Mayo Clinic of Jacksonville. In addition, Haesuk has shared her knowledge and experiences by presenting a 2 hour Medication Safety CE program at the NEFSHP Annual Fall Meeting in October 2014 which was extremely well received.
Thank you for your consideration of Haesuk Heagney., Pharm.D. for this Award.
To: FSHP Award Nominations Committee From: Elizabeth C Ventresca, PharmD
Director of Pharmacy, Mayo Clinic Date: April 17, 2015
RE: NOMINATION – MEDICATION SAFETY AWARD
I would like to nominate FSHP member, Haesuk Heagney, Pharm. D. for the Medication Safety Award.
Dr. Heagney is the Medication Safety Pharmacist at Mayo Clinic in Florida and demonstrates a continuing commitment to medication safety. She relentlessly pursues excellence in this area through the provision of direct patient care, education, research. Dr. Heagney is the chair of the Pharmacy Medication Use Safety Committee for the institutional practice and a member of multiple other medication safety committees within the organization. I think of her as the thread that runs through all things related to medication safety within our organization. Under her leadership we have improved the culture of safety as demonstrated by improved patient safety scores within our department. Dr. Heagney personally investigates every medication event and directly engages those involved and others when needed to determine root causes and realistic solutions. This personal engagement coupled with her warmth, genuine concern and clinical expertise creates a sense of safety and trust among those with whom she works. She interacts with pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurses, physicians, leadership and risk management in her daily work. Dr. Heagney routinely attends national conferences to further her knowledge and share experiences. She provides guidance and input into new processes or technology to assure safe practices and works with our pharmacy residents to conduct root cause analyses. Some examples of her accomplishments include: prescribing restrictions and order alerts to pharmacists for treprostinil/epoprostenol, implemented scanning of medications into the dispensing cabinets, education to all staff on safe management of liposomal bupivacaine, implementation of computer alerts as needed, management of The Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alerts, standardizing heparin infusion to a single concentration, conducting routine medication safety audits, review of SALAD list, High Alert drug list, conducted Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) safety survey in the community pharmacy, and maintains proficiency as a practicing pharmacist. These examples only highlight a few of her accomplishments.
Thank you for your consideration of Dr. Heagney for the Medication Safety Award.
From: Dusko Klipa, PharmD, BCPS, CPh Director of Pharmacy St. Vincent’s Medical Center Southside, Jacksonville FL Phone: 904‐296‐3734 To whom it may concern, I am writing this letter of recommendation with a great sincerity for Ms. Roma Merrick for the FSHP Medication Safety Award. I have worked with Roma for3 years now during which I had an opportunity to observe her growth and impact on our department and patient safety over all. With our leadership guidance, Ms. Merrick has pioneered medication reconciliation program on admission in our health system which resulted in a measurable safety impact. Her hospital wide work has demonstrated and proved that pharmacy technician can play an integral role in medication reconciliation program by adding a safety component that assures medication therapy is safely resumed upon patient’s arrival to hospital. Additionally, Ms. Merrick has trained a number of technicians in our health system to assure that all patients across the system receive the same level of care. Furthermore, her active participation in Florida Society of Health System Pharmacy that included various presentations related to medication reconciliation process adds additional credibility and strong argument that Ms. Merrick is deserving of your reward. Ms. Roma Merrick has made a lasting impact on our facility and profession of pharmacy on a local and regional level. Hence, I strongly recommend Ms. Roma Merrick without any reservations for the FSHP Medication Safety Award program. Please, do not hesitate to contact me if any further information is needed. Sincerely, Dusko Klipa, PharmD, BCPS, CPh
4/27/15 Re: Letter of Reference for Roma Merrick, RPhT, CPhT MEDICATION SAFETY AWARD Purpose: To recognize an individual or group committed to the goals of medication safety. Qualifications: The nominee must be a FSHP pharmacist or technician and have demonstrated continuing commitment to medication safety. Roma Merrick is a pharmacy technician coordinator that has worked with us at St. Vincent’s Medical Center‐Southside for 3 years. During this time, she became our first “Medication Reconciliation Pharmacy Technician” and assisted in developing the admission medication history program for our St. Vincent’s Healthcare System. Upon beginning the process, we noted major shortcomings about our medication history process, and Roma, with the oversight of our Clinical Pharmacy Manager, Florian Daragjati, began developing the program to facilitate accurate medication history completion, primarily in our ER population. She used our Error Reporting System to identify areas for improvement and associates that needed more education on the process. A Performance Improvement Process was developed to increase the hospital awareness of the issue, and for tracking purposes, we began monitoring the number of interventions on the medication history for each patient. Every month, Roma completes over 4000 medication history interventions that are documented. Roma even wrote the manual here at Southside for the medication reconciliation technician position. Our hospital system also formed a Medication Reconciliation Committee, where we used a multi‐ disciplinary approach to update policies and develop ways for tracking improvement in admission, transfer and discharge medication reconciliation. One of the ways we have focused on tracking the improvement of our admission is data collection of compliance to National Patient Safety Goal of Medication Reconciliation, which Roma collects every month for the committee and hospital leadership. Prior to the committee formation, we struggled with around 60% compliance with the admission medication history and reconciliation, however, with the education by the committee and the continued performance of our medication reconciliation technician, we are now consistently performing over 90%. Overall, Roma’s participation and commitment to the process improvement for admission medication reconciliation here at St. Vincent’s has been phenomenal. She continues to train our new medication reconciliation pharmacy technicians, and speaks to various groups on the topic to help other institutions develop a program to increase patient safety. We are very thankful for her dedication to this program and the improvements that we have seen here at St. Vincent’s. Sincerely,
Kati Shell, PharmD, CpH, BCPS Clinical Pharmacist Medication Safety and Quality Representative St. Vincent’s Medical Center‐Southside 904‐296‐3771
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____________________Roma Merrick CPhT, RPhT_________________
11290 Island Club Lane Jacksonville, Florida 32225 (904)613-7737
romamerrick@gmail.com EDUCATION
Bachelors of Science in Psychology August 2009 – June 2011 University of Phoenix
Jacksonville, Florida
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
St. Vincent’s Healthcare February 2006 – present
Pharmacy Technician Coordinator June 2012- present
St. Vincent’s Medical Center – Southside Jacksonville, Florida
Responsible for obtaining, reviewing, and clarifying home medications for admitted patients, nursing educations, reviewing infection control labs, reviewing hemoglobin and absolute neutrophil counts, IV to PO recommendations, chart reviews, National Patient Safety Goals for The Joint Commission, and training.
Pharmacy Technician II February 2006 – June 2012
St. Vincent’s Medical Center – Riverside Jacksonville, Florida
Responsible for order processing, medication delivery, IV preparation and compounding, open system chemotherapy admixture, technician training, chart review, operating room pharmacy compounding, and communication between nursing staff and pharmacy.
CVS Pharmacy March 2000 – May 2006
Lead Pharmacy Technician September 2005 – May 2006
CVS Pharmacy
Jacksonville, Florida
Responsible for pharmacy inventory management, pharmacy staff scheduling, prescription processing, pharmaceutical orders form secondary warehouses, warehouse orders, insurance processing, store inventory control, assist with insurance company audits, doctor calls, pharmacy maintenance, pharmacy technician training, and customer service.
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Pharmacy Technician I August 2001 – September 2005
CVS Pharmacy
Jacksonville, Florida
Responsible for prescription processing, pharmaceutical orders, warehouse orders, insurance processing, store inventory control, assist with insurance and company audits, doctor calls, pharmacy maintenance, pharmacy technician training, and customer service.
Hourly Assistant Manager August 2000- August 2001
CVS Pharmacy
Jacksonville, Florida
Responsible for opening and closing store, store maintenance, order processing, merchandising, store displays, employee training, and customer service.
Front End Associate March 2000 – August 2000
CVS Pharmacy
Jacksonville, Florida
Responsible for store maintenance, store displays, merchandising, and customer service. HONORS & AWARDS
St. Vincent’s Medical Center Service of Excellence Nominee 2006 St. Vincent’s Medical Center Pharmacy Technician of the Month October 2010 Florida Society of Health System Pharmacists – Technician of the Year 2014 PROFESSIONAL LICENSURES & CERTIFICATIONS
Florida October 2010- present
License # RPT 197
National Pharmacy Technician Certification November 2005 – present Certification # 330101051156263
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Florida Society of Health System Pharmacists (FSHP) December 2011 – present
Technician Council Member 2012 – present
Vice-Chair, Technician Council 2013 – 2014
Chair, Technician Council 2014 – present
American Public Health Association (APHA) January 2012 – present American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) June 2012 – present COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS
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National Patient Safety Goals Committee July 2012 – present
Nursing Leadership August 2012 – present
Improving Medication Reconciliation October 2013 – present PRESENTATIONS
The Role of the Medication Reconciliation Technician August 2012 Presented to: Nursing Leadership, Senior Leadership
St. Vincent’s Medical Center – Southside; Jacksonville, Florida
Improving Medication Reconciliation August 2012
Presented to: The Joint Commission, Senior Leadership, pharmacists, physicians, nurses St. Vincent’s Medical Center – Southside; Jacksonville, Florida
Impact of Pharmacy Technician Assisted Medication Reconciliation in the Emergency
Department December 2012
Poster Presentation
Katherine Kamataris, PharmD; Christina Gifford, PharmD, BCPS; Megan Keese, PharmD, BCPS, Roma Merrick, CPhT, RPhT; Elizabeth Santiago, PharmD, MBA; Lauren Stafford, PharmD, BCPS
American Society of Health-system Pharmacists Mid-Year – Orlando, FL
Medication Reconciliation Update January 2013
Presented to: Nursing Leadership, Senior Leadership
St. Vincent’s Medical Center – Southside; Jacksonville, Florida
Medication Reconciliation Potential Savings January 2013 Presented to: Nursing Leadership, Senior Leadership
St. Vincent’s Medical Center – Riverside; Jacksonville, Florida
The Role of the Clinical Pharmacy Technician August 2013 Presented to: Pharmacy technicians and pharmacists
Florida Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists Annual Meeting – Orlando, Florida Medication Reconciliation and the Pharmacy Technician March 2014
Presented to: Pharmacy technicians
Florida Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists Technician Education Days – Jacksonville, Florida
Technician Discussion Forum August 2014
Forum Facilitator
Presented to: Pharmacy technicians
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New and Uncommon Drugs August 2014
Moderator
Alexis Berndt, Pharm.D., BCPS Presented to: Pharmacy technicians
Florida Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists Annual Meeting – Orlando, Florida A Review of Pharmacy Calculations for Pharmacy Technicians August 2014 Moderator
Nina Pavuluri, PhD.
Presented to: Pharmacy technicians
Florida Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists Annual Meeting – Orlando, Florida
Infection Prevention August 2014
Moderator
Florian Daragjati, Pharm.D., BCPS Presented to: Pharmacy technicians
Florida Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists Annual Meeting – Orlando, Florida
Medication Diversion August 2014
Moderator
Charzetta James, Pharm. D., CPh, MBA, MHA, FACHE Presented to: Pharmacy technicians
Florida Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists Annual Meeting – Orlando, Florida Advanced Technician Roles – Medication Reconciliation March 2015 Presented to: Pharmacists
Northeast Chapter Florida Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists St. Vincent’s Medical Center – Southside; Jacksonville, Florida
FSHP Award Committee May 7, 2015
Dear Colleagues:
It is my sincere privilege to nominate William (Bill) Renfro, Pharm.D., for the FSHP Medication Safety Award. I have worked with Dr. Renfro for 30 years, and in that time I have not met anyone who has a greater commitment to patient safety. During that time, Dr. Renfro has served as a role model and educator to Pharmacy students, residents and colleagues regarding medication safety in his clinical practice, which serves a population of patients at the greatest risk for errors (Neonatal Intensive Care).
In addition, Dr. Renfro has served as a leader on the UF Health Medication Safety Committee (a medical staff appointed, multidisciplinary committee), as well as chairing the Department of Pharmacy Inpatient Error Prevention Team. For several years, Dr. Renfro has had the thankless task of performing analysis on every reported medication related error. He interviews each person who has knowledge of the error, as well as notifying the staff member(s) who committed the error. Dr. Renfro performs these tasks with extreme grace and patience, and makes it clear that he is doing so only to improve the safety of the patients on our campus. Dr. Renfro promotes a “Just Culture” approach that is very successful.
Dr. Renfro tracks and trends all medication errors, and identifies opportunities to improve processes. Some recent examples include: medication nomenclature and labelling for Pharmacy storage; electronic notification for stat IV orders; standardization of infusion concentrations across the facility and multiple electronic systems; and improved alerts in the clinical system.
I recommend Dr. Renfro for this prestigious award without hesitation. Sincerely,
Pamela Schauben, M.S., R.Ph. Manager, Inpatient Pharmacy Practice
