Key Terms
Admitting order
A medication order written by a physician on admission of a patient to the hospital; may or may not include a medication order.
Drug formulary
A list of approved medications for use within the hospital; this list is approved by the P&T Committee.
Home medications (Home meds)
A patient’s medications brought from home to continue use while in the hospital.
The Joint Commission
An independent governing body that sets standards for quality patient care and safety in hospitals and other healthcare facilities; responsible for hospital accreditation.
Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee
A committee of the hospital that reviews, approves, and revises the hospital’s formulary of drugs and maintains the drug use policies of the hospital.
Automated medication dispensing system (AMDS)
A secure, locked storage cabinet of designated drugs on a nursing unit whose software can track the dispensing and administration of each dose of medication to each patient.
Electronic Health Record (EHR)
Computerized health information record to share patient information among authorized healthcare providers to better coordinate healthcare.
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
A committee of the hospital that ensures that an appropriate protocol is provided to patients using investigational drugs.
Medical chart
A hard copy or digital legal document containing clinical information that hospitals collect in-house and consist of patient demographics, hospital number, physician notes, problem list, medication orders, nursing assessments, and discharge.
Pick station
An area of the inpatient pharmacy that houses frequently prescribed formulary drugs in commercially available unit-dose packaging, allowing efficient medication cart filling by more than one technician.
Cart fill list
A daily printout of all patient profiles.
Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR)
An online record that documents the administration time of each drug to each patient by a nurse using barcode technology.
Intake record
Documentation by the nurse upon admission to the hospital.
Medication order
A prescription written in the hospital setting.
Policy and procedures manual
An online or written step-by-step set of instructions for pharmacists and technicians that outlines all operations within the pharmacy department.
Director of Pharmacy
Also known as the Pharmacist in Charge (PIC); the chief executive officer of the hospital pharmacy department.
Floor stock
Medications stocked in a secured area at each nursing patient care station or floor.
IV admixture
A centralized pharmacy service that prepares IV, TPN, and hazardous preparations in a sterile, cleanroom work environment.
Nonformulary drug
A drug not included on the hospital’s drug formulary.
Quality Assurance (QA)
A system of procedures, activities, feedback, and oversight that ensures that operational and quality standards are consistently met.
Discharge order
An order written by a physician that provides take-home instructions, including prescribed medications and doses, for a discharged patient.
Home infusion pharmacy
A specialty pharmacy set up particularly to serve home healthcare dispensing.
Investigational drug
A drug used in clinical trials that has not yet been approved by the FDA for use in the general population, or a drug used for non-approved indications.
Par levels
The minimum restock and maximum reorder levels for each drug on each nursing unit.
STAT order
A medication order that is to be filled and sent to the patient care unit immediately.