Lifespan Pharmacy Earns URAC Accreditation
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Lifespan Pharmacy’s two retail locations at Rhode Island Hospital and Miriam Hospital have received accreditation as URAC Specialty Pharmacies. The URAC is an organization based in Washington, D.C. which sets quality standards for the health care industry.
Lifespan Pharmacy - a non-profit - is committed to promoting quality health services and states that the accreditation “is a reflection of its focus to ensure the highest standards for safety, quality, satisfaction and outcomes.”
“This is an important accomplishment for the Lifespan Pharmacy and affirms our decision to launch a hospital-based pharmacy,” says Christine M. Berard-Collins, MBA, RPh, director of pharmacy for Rhode Island, The Miriam and Bradley hospitals. “Being based within a hospital system makes us unique in that our clinical pharmacists are located in many of the clinics where our patients are receiving care. As an integrated service, we are working directly with patients’ physicians and health care teams toward the same goal – improving patient outcomes.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe first Lifespan Pharmacy - at Rhode Island Hospital - opened in early 2013 as part of an effort to reduce re-admissions and improve the patient experience. In October, Lifespan opened a second hospital-based pharmacy on the campus of The Miriam Hospital.
The entire team at Lifespan Pharmacy consists of 15 highly trained and nationally certified clinical pharmacists who specialize in oncology, transplant, hepatitis, pediatrics, neurosciences, pan management, critical care, diabetes, ambulatory care and infectious diseases.
According to Collins, patients realize many benefits from the URAC accreditation and from the pharmacy being part of an academic medical center.
“We often have experience with specialty medications during their investigational phase, before they are available to the public or other pharmacies,” says Collins. “This pre-market experience makes us more knowledgeable about the medication and the types of side effects a patient may experience.”
The Lifespan Pharmacy is open to all consumers and offers walk-in as well as appointments for adult flu, pneumonia and shingles vaccinations. Medications can be provided to patients at bedside, prior to discharge, or delivered to the home at no charge. Refills can also be done by phone, online or using a mobile app. For more information, visit www.lifespanpharmacy.org.
About Lifespan
Lifespan is a five-partner not-for-profit health system based in Providence, R.I. Formed in 1994, Lifespan includes three teaching hospitals of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Rhode Island Hospital and its Hasbro Children’s Hospital; The Miriam Hospital; and Bradley Hospital, the nation’s first psychiatric hospital for children. It also includes Newport Hospital, a community hospital offering a broad range of health services, and Gateway Healthcare, the state’s largest provider of community behavioral health care. Lifespan teaching hospitals are among the top recipients in the country of research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The hospitals received $82.9 million in external research funding in fiscal 2014. All Lifespan-affiliated partners are charitable organizations that depend on support from the community to provide programs and services.
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