OPIOIDS
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Treasure Coast Medical Report
the support of electronic medical technology.
We are reducing complications and
time in the hospital for patients. It is important
to flag inappropriate or duplicative
uses of medications to prevent problems
during and after hospitalization.”
POSTOPERATIVE CARE
The anesthesia, surgery and pharmacy
departments also work closely to manage
the enhanced recovery after surgery
(ERAS) program, recognized nationally for
almost 10 years. “There is no one recipe for
an individual using guidelines,” Grichnik
says. “We have doctors making the
rounds every day at the ICU (intensive care
unit). The program is designed to prepare
patients, coordinating and managing their
care precisely with the goal of faster recovery
with fewer side effects from different
procedures.
“We studied it and implemented this as
best practice,” she continues. “One of the
most important components is multimodal
pain management that minimizes opioid
use. Any new program we reevaluate very
deliberately. Our pharmacy, nurses, doctors
and IT staff do a lot of brainstorming to
make sure new programs work at IRMC.”
When pain is managed properly, patients
can go home after surgeries in a few >>
GREG GARDNER
Pharmacist Miguel Ferguson demonstrates the ease of the RM200 automated prescription
dispensing system at Tradition Medical Center in Port St. Lucie. Opioids are hand-counted to
follow strict federal guidelines.