Medication is designed to make us feel better or keep us healthy. However, combining certain medications can have dire, if not deadly, consequences. North Country Hospital is constantly striving to avoid medication errors.
One of the frontline employees working to avoid such errors in the hospital and for when the patients return home is Jillian Poutre, CPhT, a hospital pharmacy technician. She heads up the hospital’s Medication Reconciliation Program.
“This has been one of the most fulfilling jobs I have ever had,” Jillian said. “The Reconciliation Program helps us avoid unintended harm to our patients.” She is quick to point out that she is only one of many people at North Country dedicated to working to avoid medication errors. “It’s a collaborative effort.”
In addition, she praised the administration for taking this proactive step toward protecting patients.
A 2001 graduate of Lake Region Union High School in Barton, Jillian joined North Country Hospital on February 7. Since arriving at North Country she has distinguished herself as a dedicated, hard worker who cares about the patients the hospital serves. Before coming to North Country she worked as a pharmacy technician for three years at Copley Hospital in Morrisville.
\“Jillian is doing a great job,” Mike Omar said. “She enjoys the opportunity doing this great patient service.” Mike, a pharmacist, is the Director of the hospital’s pharmacy.
Jillian inherited the Medication Reconciliation Program from Lisa Anderson RN, North Country’s Discharge Advocate.
“Lisa gave me the run down on the process for reconciling the medications,” Jillian said. “She explained and taught me the process from A to Z. She had a systematic and precise approach to the process which always kept the patients in mind.”
When a patient is admitted to North Country, Jillian said she begins collecting the patient’s medication history from multiple sources including the patient, family members, the patient’s pharmacy, and the patient’s primary care physician.
“I then compare and reconcile all the lists,” she said. “Following that I document and update their corrected medication list to their profile on our hospital software. With this information accurate to the best of my ability, one of the hospital pharmacists then compares the lists of medications the patient was taking upon his or her admission, to the medications ordered in the pharmacy. Discrepancies, omissions, duplications, contraindications, changes, and unclear information are indentified and resolved. I enjoy the investigative nature of the job.”
This system of checks and balances works well, Jillian said. “There have been a number of situations in which the pharmacists at North Country have been able to prevent a medication event by correcting a dose or frequency of a dose.”
Being a people person, Jillian said the aspect of the job she enjoys the most is working directly with the patients and their families.
“I enjoy being on the front lines of patient care,” she said. “Visiting with the patients and their families makes my job just that more interesting especially with the elderly. When I leave their room and they have a smile on their face I know my time visiting with them was well spent. And when I go home at night I know I have made a difference.”
The appreciation for Jillian’s work on the Med Reconciliation Program extends beyond the pharmacy.
“The work Jillian has been doing with the medication reconciliation program has been great,” Karen Silvestri said. “We have noticed a significant decrease in medication discrepancies since the program began. The end result is patients are being discharged from the hospital with a better understanding of what medications they should be taking, which in turn has improved patient compliance and patient safety.” Karen is clinical co-manager of Community Medical Associates (CMA) with North Country Hospital.