Ep. 5: Amy Jones – Best Practices for Managing Your Medication Room | This Week in Surgery Centers

Here’s what to expect on this week’s episode. 🎙️

From national drug shortages to supply chain issues to drug diversion, managing a medication room in a surgery center can be super complicated.

Amy Jones, Pharm.D., BCSCP, Owner of Jones Premier Pharmacy Consulting, is passionate about making sure ASCs have full control over their med rooms and joins us to discuss best practices and where to start.

The three most common mistakes ASCs are making today?

• Not determining a process to collect surgeon orders or preferences in advance
• Not identifying dedicated staff to handle all the moving parts
• Not following standard protocols

💊 Another key topic that cannot be ignored is the importance of Controlled Substance Diversion Prevention. What are the steps ASCs should take to reduce drug diversion? According to Amy, here are a few suggestions for implementing a structured process:

• Lock your med room and the cabinets inside and provide limited access
• Have one staff member that orders the meds
• Have a second staff member that receives the meds
• Task a third staff member or pharmacist with verifying the orders as they come in
• Limit the areas you have controlled substances stored in
• Pre-build standardized anesthesia kits and seal them

Find the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube to hear all the details!

In our news recap, we’ll cover a new law impacting Virginia ASCs, declining physicians pay, the latest acquisition, and OTC hearing aids.