14th MDG presents at National Pharmacy Conference

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jessica Haynie
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss --  U.S. Air Force Capt. Gregory Correale, 14th Medical Group Pharmacy element chief, and Staff Sgt. Joanna Sanchez, 14th MDG non-commissioned officer in charge of pharmacy services, presented posters comprised of analytics for pharmacy operations at the virtual National Pharmacy Conference, Oct. 24-26, 2021.

The presentations were given in light of the 14th MDG pharmacy operating at compliancy levels higher than Air Force and DoD averages.

“When we first started in September we were at zero percent compliancy, then during October we were at thirty percent,” said Correale. “Slowly we made our way into the 90’s and even hit 100 percent a few times. We maintained a ninety percent compliance or higher for a while now.”

The poster presented by Correale showcased the compliancy of the pharmacies use of the Carepoint Patient Look-Up Tool within the 14th MDG.

“About two years ago the Defense Health Agency pushed out a requirement that every pharmacy within the Department of Defense will start using this tool,” said Correale “The tool is a DoD website that lets you look up patient information and produces a recommendation on whether or not you should dispense Naloxone.”

Naloxone is a prescription used to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing that has slowed or stopped due to an overdose.

According to Correale’s poster, from 1999 to 2019, nearly 500,000 Americans have died from an opioid overdose. Approximately fifty percent of those overdoses were prescription medication.

The poster presented by Sanchez showcased a significant decline in return to stock numbers. The pharmacy purchased a new system that notifies patients once their medicine ready for pick-up, further enhancing communication between the agency and its customers.

“Last year with a big COVID hit here in Mississippi we were struggling to communicate with our patients as to when their prescriptions would be ready,” said Sanchez. “We weren’t allowed to let them wait in the lobby. Calls were encouraged but patients still didn’t understand when to come. With this new technology, the system automatically sends a text or call to the patient and lets them know it is ready for pick-up.”

As a whole the system has increased communication, reduced incoming calls, decreased the amount of prescriptions returning to stock and provides more reliable patient contact information.

Correale was the lead author for the Carepoint Patient Look Up poster which was selected as Honorable Mention for the Pharmacy Operations category at the conference.