What Should an Ambulatory Surgery Center Look for in a Pharmacy Partner?
What are good Characteristics of a pharmacy partner for an Ambulatory Surgery Center?
When considering what characteristics an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) should consider in a pharmacy partner “flexibility” is the first that comes to mind. Ambulatory Surgery Centers require a pharmacy partner that can be flexible to their unique situations. Every ASC has various needs and pharmacy providers must be able to provide custom services tailored to fit the outpatient surgery center’s needs. It’s okay if the ASC administration team is unsure of what exactly is needed from the pharmacy partner. However, whatever pharmacy partner an ASC administration team chooses should not only help them navigate what their surgery center needs pharmaceutically, a sign of a good good partner is they assist and adapt to a wide variety of problems that may arise within an ASC’s pharmacy department.
Four initial good characters surgery center administrators should look for in pharmacy partners are flexibility, custom pharmacy services, patience to guide them through pharmaceutical decisions, and adaptability to provide assistance if ANY problem may arise in the pharmacy department.
A Good Sign: The Pharmacy Partner Provides a Range of Services for The ASC
The ASCRx Services Indispensable Health provides has had experience with ambulatory surgery centers that both know exactly what they want and when they want it, while also aiding ASC’s who have needed more in-depth guidance, ranging in issues from starting up their ASC to effectively managing pharmacy policies, procedures, and compliance. The more in-depth services can include anything such as providing guidance on how to obtain DEA and Controlled Substance (CS) licenses, how to obtain a premix that has a 24-hour shelf-life, providing mid-construction audits so the ASC could be assured they were on the right path to meet their targeted opening day, and more. Administrators debating between pharmacy partners, ensure that the pharmacy service provider chosen can adapt to the needs of whatever an outpatient surgery center pharmacy department can yield.
Effective Pharmacy Partners Respond Promptly & Professionally to ASC Questions
Most ASC’s have questions throughout the construction process. It’s normal. The pharmacy partner selected should be able to respond to any questions professionally and in a reasonable time frame. Furthermore, a pharmacy partner should be able to guide ASCs through the process, so that they know what to expect in the next phases of construction.
For ambulatory surgery centers beyond the construction phases, and are open for business, there are many other pharmacy compliance considerations. There is much more to providing effective pharmacy services to any ASC than showing up once every few months for a half-day pharmacy audit. Consider how proactive the pharmacy service company is that’s guiding the surgery center.
The Best Pharmacy Partners are Proactive with Guiding Surgery Centers
Is the Pharmacy Service Partner Guiding ASCs Administrators Through Each Step of Pharmacy Compliance or Recommendations if Needed?
Is the Pharmacy Partner Available, and Happy to Help When There are Additional Questions?
Does they Pharmacy Partner Take Initiative in Scheduling Periodic Pharmacy Audits?
OR Do The ASC Administrators Have to Chase Down Their Partners JUST to Schedule a Day?
Within every pharmacy service of Indispensable Health, we do everything we can to be proactive and helpful. Before we had a signed contract, our ASCRx services provided an ambulatory surgery center with step-by-step information on how to obtain their DEA and CS licenses. ASCRx professionals provided a different ASC with a suggested supplier to obtain their premix that has a 24-hour shelf-life, once again, BEFORE we had a contract with them. Indispensable Health has always had a mission to serve those in need with our pharmacy expertise and that mentality is a major aspect to search for within a pharmacy service provider.
Red Flag: The Pharmacy Service Partner Stops Maintaining the Same Level of Contact AFTER a Contract is Signed
Indispensable Health does not stop working once a contract is signed, and the same is true for our ASCRx services. ASCRx team members continue maintaining contact with ASC administrators in order to stay up-to-date with what is happening before our services are needed. ASCRx demonstrated to one ASC administrator how to order drugs from their wholesaler (and which substitutes to look for if the medication they needed was out-of-stock). Our pharmacy professionals with ASCRx take the time to learn and understand each individual ASCs’ needs and preferences BEFORE suggesting a formulary that will work best for their facility.
Policies and procedures can be another challenge to remain on top of for ASC administrators and it is another area they can rely on the ASCRx team to maintain. State and federal laws and regulations, all can have different policies and procedures. Ensure the pharmacy service provider, an ASC administration is relying on, not only knows them all, but is also proactively informing the ASC when policies, regulations, or laws change as our ASCRx team does.
ASCRx pharmacy service program has a lot to offer, we commit to deadlines for follow-up items, and we take pride in completing deadlines, following through with commitments, and serving our ambulatory surgery centers that have entrusted our team of pharmacy professionals to the best of our ability. In short, ASCRx, and Indispensable Health as a whole, continues to live up to our Indispensable name, and whoever your Ambulatory Surgery Center chooses to partner with for your pharmacy and medication needs should do the same.
FREE ASCRx Pre-Opening Checklist
Free ASCRx Pre-Opening On-Site Medication and Pharmacy Audit Review checklist | FREE Downloadable Indispensable Health ASCRx PDF Document
Interested in ASCRx Pharmacy services?
Indispensable Health’s ASCRx team would be honored to be of service to any ambulatory surgery center with any of their pharmacy needs
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Stephanie, an Indispensable Health Pharmacist in our new ASCRx Program discusses her role at Indispensable Health, how she discovered our pharmacy service company, and the job responsibilities that’ve changed during throughout the years. Thank you for being Indispensable Stephanie!