Why don't hospitals have pharmacies for the public

[Mickey'snewestfan]

My 14 year old had surgery today. It's the second time he's had surgery on an outpatient basis in his life. The last time he was 3.

Both times they sent us home with multiple prescriptions, including a pain killer. Both times we ran into problems getting them filled before the dose of the pain killer from the hospital wore off. I'm a single mom and I don't drive, which makes the process more challenging.

Last time, he was stroller age so we stopped on the way home, and then spent several hours getting things sorted out while he got increasingly cranky and hungry (no food since the night before) in the stroller.

This time, I couldn't put him in a stroller, so I took him home and left him there while I ran to the pharmacy. He was alone for an hour.

I understand why they can't give the prescription for controlled substances in advance, but today the drug I was waiting for was an antibiotic. Either way, I don't understand why they can't have a pharmacy at the hospital so the Dr. can order the meds when you're in recovery, and you pick them up before you leave.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My 14 year old had surgery today. It's the second time he's had surgery on an outpatient basis in his life. The last time he was 3.

Both times they sent us home with multiple prescriptions, including a pain killer. Both times we ran into problems getting them filled before the dose of the pain killer from the hospital wore off. I'm a single mom and I don't drive, which makes the process more challenging.

Last time, he was stroller age so we stopped on the way home, and then spent several hours getting things sorted out while he got increasingly cranky and hungry (no food since the night before) in the stroller.

This time, I couldn't put him in a stroller, so I took him home and left him there while I ran to the pharmacy. He was alone for an hour.

I understand why they can't give the prescription for controlled substances in advance, but today the drug I was waiting for was an antibiotic. Either way, I don't understand why they can't have a pharmacy at the hospital so the Dr. can order the meds when you're in recovery, and you pick them up before you leave.

Our hospital has a pharmacy. Actually it has 2 - one for patients going home with prescriptions, and one for anyone to come in and get prescriptions filled/refilled.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Our hospital has a pharmacy. Actually it has 2 - one for patients going home with prescriptions, and one for anyone to come in and get prescriptions filled/refilled.

See, I knew it was a good idea! If other places can do it, I don't really see why my city can't. I should add that we used 2 different hospitals, and the 2 are the ones with the biggest pediatrics programs in the city, not little ones.

When we were at the first one, which was a children's hospital, I really thought they needed an entire CVS. My kid was admitted from the ER unexpectedly, and I tried to buy a clean, non-vomit covered shirt and a toothbrush, but all they had was things like balloon bouquets, greeting cards, and glass figurines.

 

[mnrose]

Our pediatrics hospital has a full service pharmacy open to the public. For some of the more obscure meds that children can be prescribed, it is the only place to be reasonably certain the med will even be available. It also has regular pharmacy items...toothbrushes, aspirin, etc. Now, the selection isn't great, and the prices are a bit steep, but as compared to having to leave the hospital to get something when your child is in residence, it's much nicer!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Children's Hospital in Boston does actually have a CVS in the lobby. As well as a gift shop that sells Life is Good pajamas - for kids and adults who get stuck in the hospital. (I've bought them myself for that reason!)

And many hospitals do have an Outpatient pharmacy.

I hope your son is feeling better soon.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

For future reference, you can ask the Dr.'s office for the prescription in advance and have it filled before the operation. My husband did that for me while I was in surgery. He had my pain meds in hand when I was discharged. That was a life saver for me when the pain kicked in.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Our pediatrics hospital has a full service pharmacy open to the public. For some of the more obscure meds that children can be prescribed, it is the only place to be reasonably certain the med will even be available. It also has regular pharmacy items...toothbrushes, aspirin, etc. Now, the selection isn't great, and the prices are a bit steep, but as compared to having to leave the hospital to get something when your child is in residence, it's much nicer!

That sounds wonderful! I would have happily paid $20 for a toothbrush and some toothpaste, so it seems like a money maker. I'm a single mom, and when we were admitted DS was a toddler. There was no way he was letting me out of sight, so we were stuck with whatever was for sale in the lobby.

 

[POOHsie]

Years ago my infant DD had a bad ear infection that wasn't responding to medicines. The third med that was tried was Amoxicillin. I waited my turn at the drug store pharmacy area and there were a number of scripts to be done before mine. However, my DD was crying so hard from her pain, that the druggist filled the script right away. I was very grateful. I'm sure they were glad to get my miserable, crying baby out of the store, too.

 

[sookie]

Our hospital has an outpatient pharmacy. I think that every hospital I have worked in has had one (not open 24/7), but I understand that a lot of rural hospitals do not have this pleasure.

Sorry this happened to you.

 

[Fire14]

I can't speak for Children's Hosp. but I know none of hosp around here have rx right in them. most have a CVS or walgreens fairly close

 

[RN_Mom]

It's a separate license to dispense outpatient stuff

 

[mnrose]

Just remembered something that our local "regular" hospital has. I had to make a late night run when my son was 8 to the ER. It was the middle of the night, and he was prescribed an antibiotic. I could have gone to one of the all night pharmacies, but right there in the hospital was a vending machine for drugs. Ever seen one of those? I can't remember the exact steps I had to go through, but I left with the drugs in hand. Pretty cool.


http://www.instymeds.com/

 

[johnsontrio]

The Health Care System I work for has outpatient pharmacies in every hospital and we provide our patients with "First Fill". Patients are given the option to receive this service or they can take their scripts to their own pharmacy. For the patients I discharge home after surgery, the scripts are transmitted electronically at the time they are ordered in the EMR (electronic medical record). Admitting has already provided the pharmacy with their insurance information. The scripts are filled, delivered to the bedside upon discharge, the patient or family pays the co-pay to the tech delivering the script and the nurse can go over any directions or information regarding the scripts that is needed. Our patients love this service.

 

[alex9179]

I worked for a children's hospital in KCMO years ago and not only did they have an outpatient pharmacy during business hours, but the inpatient pharmacy filled scripts for ER and orders from the floors 24/7. I can say, it's quite a workload for the night shift and may cost more than a facility is willing to pay.

Did you call the doc's service? Surely she/he would have been able to get it taken care of for you. I can't imagine your frustration!

 

[Robbi]

Our hospital doesn't have a pharmacy. There are 2 Walgreens in town. One right across the street from the hospital and one across town. The one near the street stops filling scripts at 7 and closes at 10. The Walgreens across town stays open 24 hours-go figure.

 

[hereyago]

OP, hope your ds recovers quickly.


Earlier this year, my mom was hospitalized for reoccurring c diff. They put her on a very powerful antibiotic. Well they told me insurance wouldn't pay for it, ok no big deal. But what they didn't tell me was that it had to be compounded and that only 1 pharmacy in my area did that. Oh, and she had to have it every certain amount of hours.

I went to my regular pharmacy and they said we don't do that here, but they found a place that did, called for me and sent over the rx. Luckily they had a chemist there that night.

I was just upset that the hospital didn't give me that heads up and try to send a rx to the one pharmacy in the first place. But according to the nurse they don't do that.

 

[LoserMomma]

We have two pharmacies in our hospital and will fill your prescription and deliver it to your room before you're discharged. One of the pharmacies is owned by the system (the one that delivers) and one is private (which will deliver to your home the next day) so you also have a choice.

Your state may have different regulations then mine.

 

[HelenePA]

I know Penn St Hershey has its own pharmacy but I"m pretty sure our smaller local hospitals do not have one.

 

[Schmeck]

My 14 year old had surgery today. It's the second time he's had surgery on an outpatient basis in his life. The last time he was 3.

Both times they sent us home with multiple prescriptions, including a pain killer. Both times we ran into problems getting them filled before the dose of the pain killer from the hospital wore off. I'm a single mom and I don't drive, which makes the process more challenging.

Last time, he was stroller age so we stopped on the way home, and then spent several hours getting things sorted out while he got increasingly cranky and hungry (no food since the night before) in the stroller.

This time, I couldn't put him in a stroller, so I took him home and left him there while I ran to the pharmacy. He was alone for an hour.

I understand why they can't give the prescription for controlled substances in advance, but today the drug I was waiting for was an antibiotic. Either way, I don't understand why they can't have a pharmacy at the hospital so the Dr. can order the meds when you're in recovery, and you pick them up before you leave.

Did you ask for the prescriptions beforehand? We've always asked, and get them filled while the patient is in surgery. How far away was the nearest pharmacy?

 

[ReneeA]

I work in a hospital in Detroit, and we have 2 pharmacies on campus. One that has normal 8-6 hours, and one near the ER with 24 hour service. They discount tremendously for employees (including our copays on prescriptions) in order to get us to use their services.