Digital Edition of HUPdate - 11/13/2015

Volume 26

Number 23

November 13, 2015

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

A Pharmacy

to Meet patient-AND-Employee Needs Similar to the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine itself, everything in its new pharmacy on the atrium level was planned with the patient in mind, from the private room for discussions with the pharmacist to the robot that dispenses medications quickly, providing faster prescription pick-up.

Creating the pharmacy was a multi-year journey, “truly designed and built by the Penn Medicine community,” said John Kirby, HUP’s associate executive director of Operations. Indeed, the

Inside Penn Medicine Lights the Night.........................2 Building Better Bridges.............3 Social Media May Have Important Health Information..3 Celebrating First Halloween.....4

planning team interviewed and surveyed hospital leaders, nurses, physicians, CPUP managers, advanced practice practitioners and staff for recommendations. In the end, it came down to this: “Build a pharmacy that is convenient for patients, families, and employees, and a place to attract great pharmacists.”

The 2,000-square-foot pharmacy in the Perelman Center contains the top 250 drugs dispensed at the Center (according to EPIC data). To keep the production of prescriptions flowing, a robot dispenses about two prescriptions a minute, filling, labeling, capping and then sending them to the correct alphabetic section in the output tray. “It also takes a photo of each drug for the pharmacist allowing confirmation that it’s the right medication,” said Genevieve Levans, associate director of Pharmacy. “The robot frees techs’ time so they can have more patient interaction at the front.”

The pharmacy has four drop off/pick up lanes, one of which is compliant with the

`` From left: Pharmacist Irene Blikh, pharmacy techs Susan Malizia and Devin Westin, pharmacy manager Rich Kriska, and Genevieve Levans, associate director of Pharmacy.

Americans with Disabilities Act. When a prescriptions are ready, a text, call or email will go out to patients, rather than having them stay at the pharmcy. “We don’t want employees or patients to have to wait,” Levans said.

Physicians can submit prescriptions through Epic (the outpatient electronic medical records system) and also include requests, such as “please see this patient and review meds. (Paper prescriptions can be keyed into the system.) A mobile app in the works will allow patients to refill prescriptions from smart phones or computers. (continued on page 2)

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A Pharmacy

to Meet Patient-And-Employee Needs

(continued from page 1)

Pharmacists can also check on Epic to see if a patient is refilling a prescription late or not picking something up on time. “Our goal is to keep the patient healthy. We don’t want them to have to come back through the ER,” Levans said.

The PCAM pharmacy will also offer over-the-counter supplies, such as first-aid products and non-prescription medications for allergies, cough or colds, “whatever a patient might need before going home after a visit or procedure,” Levans said.

More Than Dispensing Meds Many of today’s retail pharmacy chains fill prescriptions but not much more. “They’re filling hundreds of prescriptions with minimal help. They don’t have the time to explain everything to customers,” she said. “And they may not even be familiar with medications that are not usually found in traditional outpatient pharmacy settings.”

A small room — with frosted glass — in the pharmacy will provide a private area for the pharmacist to educate patients on taking their medications, for example, teaching the correct inhalation technique to an asthma patient. ” About half the American population does not take their medications the way they’re supposed to” Levans said. “We’re working with physicians to keep them compliant.”

`` The pharmacy robot dispenses about two prescriptions a minute.

Starting next year, the private room will also be used to give patients flu shots and other vaccinations. “We hired pharmacists with specific immunization training and at least five years of experience,” she said. “There’s a huge potential to go further, giving infertility injections or insulin for diabetic patients.”

The pharmacy is also exploring blister packing, which can group meds by day and time of day. “This is especially good for older patients who are on multiple medications. It’s hard to remember when to take each one or even if they did,” Levans said. “They can easily bring the medications with them to a visit and the doctor can see if any doses have been skipped and determine why.”

Levans estimates that, as more practices move to the Perelman Center, the pharmacy will generate up to 500 prescriptions a day. It will take some of the pressure off HUP’s outpatient pharmacy, she said, but stressed, “The HUP pharmacy is staying open!”

Penn Medicine

Lights the Night!

`` Team Penn Medicine raised over $80,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

The Light The Night Walk brings together families and communities to honor blood cancer survivors, as well as those lost to the diseases; shines a light on the importance of finding cures; and provides access to treatments for blood cancer patients. This year, Regina Cunningham, PhD, RN, HUP’s chief nurse executive and associate executive director, served as Executive Chair of the 2015 Philadelphia Light the Night Walk, held last month. “Our strongest partnership is with our patients and families; together we work to cure cancer,” she said.

Over 400 Penn employees, patients and families joined together and formed Team Penn Medicine, raising over $80,000 for the

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Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Bethany Sterling, MSN, CRNP, led the Penn Medicine efforts; through her efforts, Penn had 20 individual teams each with a captain.

“On behalf of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society®, we thank Penn Medicine and the organization’s leadership for outstanding partnership as CoPresenting Sponsor of the 2015 Eastern PA Light the Night Walks,” said Ellen Rubesin, Society executive director. “In total, this year’s partnership directed more than $155,000 towards funding critical research and patient access initiatives.”

‘Building Better Bridges’ To Our West Philly Neighbors Madeline Dawson, MHS, a staff oncology chaplain in Pastoral Care, and the members of Victory Outreach Ministries in Southwest Philadelphia are onto something. They recently provided free school supplies and valuable health information to more than 100 Philadelphians and everyone had a good time doing it.

Each year, Dawson, a 26-year Penn Medicine employee and Southwest Philly native, and her sister Johnnie, also a HUP chaplain, help to organize Building Better Bridges. This block party doesn’t just give the Southwest Philadelphia community a chance to have some fun and get together, it also provides some much-needed services at the same time, thanks in part to a recent Penn Medicine CAREs grant.

The church threw its first block party eight years ago as a way to distribute free school supplies. This year, a CAREs grant helped to cover the cost of more than 100 backpacks stuffed with everything a kid could need for the first day of school.

“If you could see the faces, not just the children’s, but their parents’ as well,” Dawson said. “It was too good to be true!”

This year, Mel Kearney, BSN, of Occupational Medicine, and Pam Mack-Brooks, MSN, WHNP, director of the HUP Nursing Community Outreach Program, helped out, providing much needed information about health topics like blood pressure, strokes, nutrition and women’s health issues for block party attendees.

Outside of the supplies and the health fair, the block party is just plain fun for the neighborhood. This year’s event included face painting, an ever-popular “bouncein” castle, and praise dancing. In addition, the Lightbearers Drum Corps from the Southwest Seventh-day Adventist Church even left their service to perform – in uniform on a hot day – for the crowd.

Dawson said her work with the Building Better Bridges block party does just that.

It’s a way for her to continue to bridge the

Social Media Content

May Hold Keys to Important Health Information

Todd Selected as AAN Fellow Congratulations to Barbara Ann Todd, DNP, CRNP, director of Advanced Practice and Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration, who was selected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, an organization of distinguished leaders in nursing who have been recognized for their outstanding contributions.

Language used in everyday social media posts may have a strong connection to an individual’s health, according to new research from Penn. In the first study of its kind, the new results suggest that not only are many adult Facebook and Twitter users willing to share their social media data and medical data for research purposes, but, by building a language databank, it may be possible to link social media content to health outcomes.

“We don’t often think of our social media content as data, but the language we use and the information we post may offer valuable insights into the relationship between our everyday lives and our health,” said the study’s senior author, Raina M. Merchant, MD, MSHP, director of Penn’s Social Media and Health Innovation Lab. “Finding ways

gap between members of the community at large with Penn, letting them know that our facilities are here for them should they need them. At the end of the day, we’re neighbors on this side of the Schuylkill and, with help from her Penn CAREs grant, Dawson said she hopes to strengthen that bond.

to effectively harness and mine that data could prove to be a valuable source of information about how and why patients communicate about their health.

In the study, more than 1,000 participants consented to share their social media and medical data over seven months. The shared social media data, dating from as far back as 2009, consisted of nearly 1.4 million posts and tweets to Facebook and Twitter, comprising almost 12 million words.

“Just as genetic information is banked to track potential future health, previously unobservable social media postings — made up of words, language, and conversations — may also be banked from consenting individuals and evaluated for potential correlations with health and health outcomes.”

Learn more about the study — and the results — at http://bit.ly/1WJoWvE.

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Celebrating A First Halloween HUP’s intensive care nursery held its annual Halloween celebration last month, with the staff dressing their tiny charges in costumes and holding a party in their honor. “It gives families a chance to celebrate, no matter what they’re going through,” said Megan Fulmer, BSN. “They connect with other families who are going through similar experiences here in the neonatal ICU.” And it’s a great morale boost for nurses as well, connecting with parents on a different level.

One of the celebrants was Alexander Glen, dressed as an orange caterpillar, with spots and antennae. “There’s a lot of good vibes going around. Everyone is happy and excited,” said his dad, Nick. “It feels good to have a sense of normalcy.”

To see more photos of the Halloween celebration, go to http://bit.ly/1kloiDB. `` Alexander Glen with parents Nick and Sarah at the ICN Halloween party.

Raising SIDS Awareness The City of Philadelphia has the highest number of cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in the United States. Although the causes of death in many SIDS cases can’t be explained, most occur while the infant is sleeping in an unsafe sleeping environment. HUP’s Safe Sleep Program for infants in the Intensive Care Nursery works with families to address safe sleep practices. Learn more about these practices and more at a SIDS Awareness event on Friday, November 13, on the Ravdin Mezzanine, between 9 am and 1 pm. There will be games and giveaways.

Giving

Wheelchair Request It’s important that all patients who come to HUP and need a wheelchair has one available when they need it.

We need every member in the HUP community to help our patients by either bringing stray wheelchairs to the main lobby at HUP or the Perelman Center or, if that’s not possible, to please call Transport Dispatch at 215.662.2484 for pick up.

HUPdate is Penn’s Way

One More Week to Contribute

Editorial Staff Sally Sapega Editor and Photographer Alexa Creter Graphic Designer

Administration

If you haven’t already done so, please consider donating to Penn’s Way, our annual workplace charitable campaign. At the end of Week 4 of the campaign, HUP had reached almost 80 percent of its $275,000 goal, with 63 percent participation. Your donation can help us reach – and even surpass – that goal.

Together, UPHS and the University aim to raise money for charities within the Center for Responsible Funding, Penn Medicine and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. Money donated to HUP will fund the Safe Sleep Sack initiative, providing our discharged babies with safe sleep sacks to prevent them dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

The campaign runs through Friday, November go to http://www.upenn.edu/pennsway.

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20. To participate,

Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Holly Auer Director of Communications Contact HUPdate at: 3535 Market Street, Mezzanine Philadelphia, PA 19104 phone: 215.662.4488 fax: 215.349.8312 email: sally.sapega@uphs.upenn.edu

HUPdate is published biweekly for HUP employees. Access HUPdate online at http://news.pennmedicine.org/inside/hupdate.