Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

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To keep up with increasing nationwide shortages in generic medications, rising demands for medications due to near full census at HUP, and a continuous pursuit to improve safety and efficiency, Pharmacy needed to expand its inpatient operations. With the support of senior leadership — and the help of many departments throughout HUP — a newly renovated and expanded space on Ground Rhoads now houses these services, along with a state-of-the-art robot that offers substantial improvements over the previous one.

“When people heard that we were getting a new robot, I’d say, ‘You need to hear about more than that.’,” Paul Miranda, RPh, MBA, associate director of Pharmacy, told people prior to the move. “We’re moving nearly everything. Here’s where it comes from today, it’s going to come from over there tomorrow, and I need to do it so that you are unaffected by the move … that would be the tricky part.”

But they did it. “We basically moved a 10,000-square-foot department — with thousands of doses of inpatient medications — out of the main pharmacy, along with our inventory and storage units,” Miranda said. “All while our staff continued to prepare 3,000 doses out of the IV room.”

“It took months of planning — and a lot of labor — but we were extremely successful in making the move invisible to the rest of the organization” said Rick Demers, RPh, Pharmacy director. “And it was a team effort to get it all done – Design and Construction, EVS, Information Services, and so many more.”

The new suite, designed from a “shelled” space, will improve workflow for Pharmacy staff. The department’s main storeroom, unit dose robot, controlled substances distribution, sterile intravenous production, and traditional compounding functions are now located in adjacent spaces. “The workers in these operations can now take advantage of the efficiency of working more closely, so there should be less waste and better inventory control,” said Miranda.

The space also features a new compliant sterile IV compounding room and a negative pressure chemotherapy compounding room for chemotherapy preparations. New automated inventory control technology will be added later this summer to further support safety and efficiency.

At this time, the administrative offices for the Pharmacy will remain in the basement of the Silverstein building.

New Robot Boosts Efficiency and SafetyThe new robot has already made a significant improvement in the Pharmacy’s efficiency. Before the transition to the new space and robot, a cart fill (a 24-hour supply of unit dose medications for every inpatient filled overnight) averaged 8,600 doses a

Move is Best Medicine for HUP’s Inpatient Pharmacy

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Volume 22 Number 14 July 27, 2012

Happy Mother’s Day from PeriOp’s Shared Governance ..2

Gerald Stoudt Receives Trauma Nurse Excellence Award ...........3

A Day in the Life: Penn Medicine ..........................3

Join the 5K for The IOA ...........4

INSIDE

` The new robot fills standardized Unit Dose Packages from bulk supplies, making it much more convenient and efficient for the nurses.

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Happy Mother’s Day from PeriOp’s Shared Governance

(Continued from page 1)

night and took from 10 to 12 hours to complete. In the first week after the move, the time to dispense approximately 10,000 doses decreased to six to eight hours. “The new device dispensed 2,500 first doses during the day and evening shifts,” Miranda said. “This task was not possible with the previous robot.”

Miranda said the new robot can handle over 5,000 line items, process 53,280 doses, package 700 oral solids per hour, and dispense 1,050 oral solids per hour, “a substantial increase” over pre-move numbers. In addition, the device dispenses products in standardized unit dose packages. The previous robot repackaged unit dose medications in packets, requiring nurses to open two packages. “This is much more convenient and efficient for nurses,” Miranda said, adding that this feature also allows Pharmacy to purchase medications in bulk, a cost effective approach.

Another important feature of the new technology is a plastic ring that holds the 24-hour supply for an individual patient supply of medications. “This ring should decrease the chances of losing doses in the medication drawers,” Miranda said.

Demers said the staff are excited to work in this new environment, a considerable

change from their former home in the Silverstein Basement. “We appreciate the support of senior leadership and the help of everyone who helped us get this done.”

Move is Best Medicine for HUP’s Inpatient Pharmacy

A New Space for Inpatient PharmacyTo improve efficiency and support patient safety, Pharmacy recently moved all of its inpatient operations from the Silverstein Basement to a newly renovated space in Ground Rhoads, including:

• Central Inpatient Pharmacy (a 24/7 service area for Silver (including ED), Ravdin, Dulles, Rhoads buildings.

• Sterile Products production area (24/7 service)

• Controlled Substances Storage Room (24/7 service)

• Pharmacy Purchasing office

• Medication storeroom

• Pharmacy robotics and packaging room

• Manufacturing & Compounding group

The mothers and children at Interim House, a West Philadelphia shelter, celebrated a very happy Mother’s Day, thanks to the outreach activities of the Shared Governance Committee in Peri-Operative Services. According to Dawn DeVito, a Committee member, it was a two-part effort. Their bake sale raised $300, enough for the shelter to serve a delicious dinner for all its residents. After dinner, a gift bag “filled to the brim with toiletries” was presented to each of the 36 moms, the result of the Committee’s very successful drive. “We placed paper lunch bags on tables in the Peri-op lunchroom at the Perelman Center and HUP, asking people to donate as little or much as they wanted. The response was extremely generous.”

The bake sale – held during Hospital Week – is part of a tradition for the Shared Governance group. The first one, held two years ago, benefitted the Rena Rowan Breast Center; last year’s funds were donated to the Abramson Cancer Center. Devito said the group holds several fundraising events a year, but this one “was my favorite. We wanted to be sure these moms received something special. Mothers matter.”In a letter to the Committee, Angelita Alomar-Gilbert, program director of Interim House West, wrote, “We really relish your consideration and cannot thank you enough for thinking of us. Your continued support and help with our clients will not go unnoticed.”

The new robot can handle over

5,000 line items, process 53,280

doses, package 700 oral solids per

hour, and dispense 1,050 oral solids

per hour, “a substantial increase”

over pre-move numbers.

— Paul Miranda, RPh, MBA,

Associate Director of Pharmacy

` Peri-Op’s bake sale raised $300, enough for the Interim House shelter to serve a delicious dinner for all its residents.

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Gerald Stoudt, BSN, RN, CCRN, ATCN, of Rhoads 5, was named this year’s recipient of the Trauma Nurse Excellence Award. In his nominating letter, the Surgical Critical Care Nurse Practitioner team wrote “We have found Jerry to possess an excellent knowledge base regarding the care of traumatically injured and critically ill patients… [He] is the consummate professional and peer, taking time in a very busy environment to mentor new staff or function as a contributing member of the health care team. He has quickly evolved into a nursing leader and role model on the unit, exemplified through his active involvement in the nursing practice committee and the charge nurse role… Jerry has also taken an active role in developing unit initiatives to improve patient care. Perhaps most impressive is his ability to see a challenge as an opportunity…. Jerry has also been active outside of HUP, volunteering within the healthy work environment committee in the Urban Nutrition initiative, which facilitates University City high schools with urban agricultural projects… In summary, Jerry is an invested clinician, leader and peer who has earned the respect and administration of the team of clinicians and colleagues who work with him… without question, his accomplishments, commitment and experience have positively impacted patients.”

Penn Medicine is always buzzing with activity, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. To take a look at this amazingly complex, well-tuned health system, and the outstanding faculty, staff, and students who run it, we captured a few stolen moments throughout one day in history, April 12, 2012. The photos below and many others are featured in a larger, Penn-wide “Day in the Life” photo project to document all aspects of life on the University of Pennsylvania campus.

To view the photos, go to http://news.PennMedicine.org/inside/hupdate.

A DAY IN THE LIFE: PENN MEDICINE

` (Top photo) 8:30 am: Dionne Beadle, a cardiac surgical technologist, organizes the surgical equipment during a minimally invasive mitral valve repair at HUP.

` (Bottom photo) 11:30 pm: Chris Neal, a technician in the Penn Medicine Sleep Center’s Overnight Sleep Lab, monitors a patient’s vital signs during a sleep study. The Sleep Lab technicians will continuously monitor each patient’s vital signs until 7 a.m.Gerald Stoudt Receives

TRAUMA NURSE EXCELLENCE AWARD

` Patrick Kim, MD, Trauma Program director (l. ), and John Gallagher, Trauma Program manager (r.), with Gerald Stoudt, this year’s recipient of the Trauma Nurse Excellence Award.

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EDITORIAL STAFF Sally Sapega Editor and Photographer

Danielle Taraschi Designer

ADMINISTRATION Susan E. Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Affairs

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.

HUPdate

EMPLOYEE RECORDS & PAYCHECKS

Help support Penn’s Institute on Aging by joining in the first annual 5K for the IOA and the Memory Mile Walk, to be held on Sunday, September 30. All proceeds will help further research at the IOA in the treatment and care of patients with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Beginning at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, the walk/run will go through Penn Park – 24 acres of continuous open space with skyline views of the city — and onto Penn’s campus, finishing on the College Green at the Fine Arts Building Plaza. Age-specific awards will be presented after the run.

Race packet pick-up (which include racing bibs) will be held in the Perelman Center on Friday, September 29, from 1 to 5 pm, and on the day of the race, from 6:30 to 7:45 am. The run starts at 8 am; walkers begin 10 minutes later. Free parking will be available with the race bib in the Perelman Center.

Register early! Participation will be limited to the first 500 registrants. All registered participants will receive a 5K for the IOA t-shirt.

For more information or to register, go to the Intranet home page and click on ‘5K for the IOA’ under What’s Hot. If you’d like to volunteer to help at the event, contact Tom Brennan at 215-662-6736.

Join the 5K for The IOA

Heartfelt Thanks I wanted to write a letter to share my experience with an incredible nurse in the Neuro

ICU. The entire nursing staff was great but Sue Abramson went above and beyond anything I would ever have expected. She cared for my mother like she would have for any of her own family members…. She constantly asked the doctors on rounds for more information and diligently shared information among the more than eight different teams of specialists that were coming to see my mom on a daily basis. When I had to leave for a business trip on the West Coast she helped arrange a way for a doctor to call me every evening while she or another nurse would field my calls every morning to keep me informed…. This was the hardest thing my family has ever gone through, with my mom barely clinging to life at times…[Sue’s] determination to help and comfort was truly something to appreciate and acknowledge. Now that my mom is finally home … we often talk about all of the things Sue did for her and for us as a family, and we are so thankful to have had her as a nurse and friend through all the tough times.

John Allerton . . . . . . . . . . . Respiratory Care

Colleen Avery . . . . . . . . . . Founders 9

Rachel Babcock . . . . . . . . Ravdin 6

Nina Bagdasarova . . . . . . Rhoads 2

Angela Bittner . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 10

Sherill Campbell . . . . . . . . Dulles 6

Merlyne Chandler . . . . . . . Clinical Research Center

Matthew Cruz . . . . . . . . . . . Founders 14

Jeremy Davis . . . . . . . . . . . Founders 9

Alita Doswell . . . . . . . . . . . ED Registration

Rachel Dowrick . . . . . . . . . Founders 14

Keith Duckett . . . . . . . . . . . Transport

Ryan Fuller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pharmacy

Roseanne Jeffers . . . . . . . Dulles 6

Antoine Joyner . . . . . . . . . . Materials Management

Christopher Lupica . . . . . . Radiology

Joseph McGee . . . . . . . . . . Physical Plant

Roseanne McLaughlin . . ED Nursing

Gideon Nwachukwu . . . . Rhoads 2

Shekeena Parker . . . . . . . Silverstein 7

Angela Roane . . . . . . . . . . . Founders 14

Claire Rouleau . . . . . . . . . Ravdin 6

Laura Terroni . . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 7

Hazel Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . Silverstein 10

Tamara Wright . . . . . . . . . . Dulles 6

Helping People ALL THE TIMECongratulations to March’s winners in the Helping People All the Time raffle.

Thanks to a new tool launched earlier this month, UPHS employees now have the ability to make important changes to their employee records — and view electronic versions of their paychecks – online. Any time. Anywhere.

With Employee Records & Paychecks, you can:• View and print electronic versions of your last 26

paycheck stubs.• Update direct deposit bank account information. • Make changes to your name, address, and emergency

contact information. • And more!

Get started by visiting Employee Records & Paychecks at www.PennMedicine.org/EmployeeSelfService. To access your information, simply key in your network ID and password.