SUSTAINABILITY AND EFFICIENCY
FIRST PLACE WINNER:
Raphaël Coutu
CIUSSSE-CHUS
Raphaël Coutu was awarded a 1st Place HOPE Award for their Sustainability and/or Efficiency Efforts and project entitled ‘Development of Computer Tools to Optimize the Work of the Pharmacist in Oncology.’
Raphaël utilized computer tools in three separate initiatives;
Drug Calendars for Complex Protocols:
-
- Raphaël and his team addressed the inefficiencies in housing complex protocols on extensive Excel worksheets that were not user-friendly and difficult to update.
- The team created an online application in which pharmacy technicians can fill and print online forms, then pharmacists can validate content, then it can easily be provided to patients.
- The content on the application is easier to update and translate, eliminating the administrative burden of the Excel spreadsheets.
Pediatric Oncology tools:
-
- Raphaël recognized a need to develop an online tool to monitor medication administration and dosing documentation due to the inability for current software to do so. Pharmacists had to previously complete this by hand, which was time-consuming, high risk of errors and had no audit log or version history.
- Raphaël developed an app which allowed pharmacists to complete online forms with patients’ information, protocol information and drug information – which could also generate pill boxes sheet and administrative documentation sheet, all of which was saved on the application.
- The results of this initiative demonstrated that in four months, 130 pill boxes were generated for 22 patients, saving time, meeting COG requirements and satisfaction from patients, parents, doctors, and pharmacists.
Reimbursement Assistance Program tools:
-
- This service, offered by an oncology pharmacy department in Sherbrooke, QC, enables pharmacy technicians to assist doctors to fill insurance requests, follow-up on requests and provides a link between doctors, insurance, and patients.
- Prior to Raphaël’s project, record keeping was not done digitally and required pharmacy technicians to complete recording with paper/pen and then physically file the paperwork.
- Due to the tremendous slowdowns this system causes, Raphaël met with pharmacy technicians to ideate methods to optimize the system and landed on an app that enables users to update and store patient records, request lists, and house documents, for quick and organized view by pharmacists.
- In two years, there have been over 5400 requests for over 1600 patients.
SUSTAINABILITY AND EFFICIENCY FIRST PLACE WINNER:
Raphaël Coutu
CIUSSSE-CHUS
Raphaël Coutu was awarded a 1st Place HOPE Award for their Sustainability and/or Efficiency Efforts and project entitled ‘Development of Computer Tools to Optimize the Work of the Pharmacist in Oncology.’
Raphaël utilized computer tools in three separate initiatives;
Drug Calendars for Complex Protocols:
-
- Raphaël and his team addressed the inefficiencies in housing complex protocols on extensive Excel worksheets that were not user-friendly and difficult to update.
- The team created an online application in which pharmacy technicians can fill and print online forms, then pharmacists can validate content, then it can easily be provided to patients.
- The content on the application is easier to update and translate, eliminating the administrative burden of the Excel spreadsheets.
Pediatric Oncology tools:
-
- Raphaël recognized a need to develop an online tool to monitor medication administration and dosing documentation due to the inability for current software to do so. Pharmacists had to previously complete this by hand, which was time-consuming, high risk of errors and had no audit log or version history.
- Raphaël developed an app which allowed pharmacists to complete online forms with patients’ information, protocol information and drug information – which could also generate pill boxes sheet and administrative documentation sheet, all of which was saved on the application.
- The results of this initiative demonstrated that in four months, 130 pill boxes were generated for 22 patients, saving time, meeting COG requirements and satisfaction from patients, parents, doctors, and pharmacists.
Reimbursement Assistance Program tools:
-
- This service, offered by an oncology pharmacy department in Sherbrooke, QC, enables pharmacy technicians to assist doctors to fill insurance requests, follow-up on requests and provides a link between doctors, insurance, and patients.
- Prior to Raphaël’s project, record keeping was not done digitally and required pharmacy technicians to complete recording with paper/pen and then physically file the paperwork.
- Due to the tremendous slowdowns this system causes, Raphaël met with pharmacy technicians to ideate methods to optimize the system and landed on an app that enables users to update and store patient records, request lists, and house documents, for quick and organized view by pharmacists.
- In two years, there have been over 5400 requests for over 1600 patients.