Hi all,

We're seeing an increase in the number of white-bagged medications administered in our hospital outpatient departments. These medications are often being sent in a patient-specific manner from a third-party pharmacy directly to the administering department. At various points this process involves our prior authorization specialists, pharmacy staff (sometimes), providers, and nursing. There's a fair amount of disconnect in this process. Currently, our pharmacy department does not have an extensive role in this.

The main flaw with our current state is that all involved parties may not be aware that a white-bagged medication is being used (instead of hospital stock), creating billing/reimbursement issues and inefficiencies.

Have others found a successful process for reliably managing these? How involved is your pharmacy department in overseeing the procurement/proper ordering of these? Are there any processes that have been well-integrated into the electronic medical record?

As always, I appreciate any thoughts or input!
Thanks,
Mike