Medication Orders & Records
A medication order written by a physician when admitting a patient to the hospital; may or may not include a medication order.
Admitting Order
Also known as the Pharmacist in Charge (PIC); the chief executive officer of the hospital pharmacy department.
Director of Pharmacy
Medications stocked in a secured area at each nursing patient care station.
Floor Stock
A centralized pharmacy service that prepares intravenous, total parenteral nutrition (TPN), and hazardous preparations in a sterile cleanroom environment.
IV Admixture
An independent governing body that sets quality and safety standards for patient care and accredits hospitals and healthcare facilities.
The Joint Commission
An order written by a physician that provides take-home instructions, including prescribed medications and doses, for a discharged patient.
Discharge Order
A secure, locked storage cabinet of designated drugs on a nursing unit whose software tracks the dispensing and administration of each dose of medication to each patient.
Automated Medication Dispensing System (AMDS)
list of approved medications for use within the hospital; this list is approved by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee.
Drug Formulary
An intravenous infusion therapy providing a patient with all necessary nutritional requirements.
Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)
A hospital committee that ensures appropriate protection is provided to patients using investigational drugs; also referred to as the Human Use Committee.
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Documentation by the nurse upon a patient’s admission to the hospital.
Intake Record
A daily printout of all patient profiles used to refill unit dose carts.
Cart Fill List
A drug not included on the hospital’s approved drug formulary.
Nonformulary Drug
An amount of a drug prepackaged or repackaged for a specific patient for single administration at a specified time.
Unit Dose
A hospital committee that reviews, approves, and revises the hospital’s drug formulary and maintains drug use policies.
Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee
An online record that documents the administration time of each drug to each patient by a nurse using barcode technology.
eMAR (Electronic Medication Administration Record)
An area of the inpatient pharmacy that stores frequently prescribed formulary drugs in unit dose packaging, allowing multiple technicians to efficiently fill medication carts.
Pick Station
A specialty pharmacy designed to provide home healthcare infusion and medication dispensing.
Home Infusion Pharmacy
A label containing essential product details such as drug name, dose, strength, manufacturer, and expiration date.
Unit Dose Product Label
A system of procedures, activities, feedback, and oversight ensuring that operational and quality standards are consistently met.
Quality Assurance (QA)
A hard copy or digital legal document containing the hospital’s collected clinical information about a patient, including demographics, physician notes, medication lists, and discharge orders.
Medical Chart
An online or written, step-by-step set of instructions for pharmacists and technicians covering all pharmacy department operations.
Policy and Procedures Manual
A patient’s medications brought from home to continue use while hospitalized.
Home Medications
A mobile storage unit containing individual drawers for each patient’s medications on a nursing unit.
Unit Dose Cart
A DEA-approved online system that replaces the paper DEA form 222 for controlled substanceordering.
ControlledSubstance OrderingSystem (CSOS)