The Power of an End-to-End Controlled Substance Management Program

Gee Mathen,
Director Pharmacy Clinical Applications & Technical Services,
Texas Children Hospital

When it comes to the crippling costs of diversion, the numbers don’t lie: 1 in 10 healthcare workers will abuse drugs, and studies show that the annual impact is upwards of $72.5 billion. One highly regarded East Coast hospital was recently fined over $2 million to resolve allegations of sub-optimal diversion control…but the brand damage was immeasurable.

I’m excited to join Michael Chen, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesia, Peri-Operative Medicine, and Pain Management at Stanford Health Care, Kimberly New, JD, BSN, RSN, a national expert in institutional drug diversion and healthcare nursing leader, along with Omnicell’s Ken Perez on Monday, November 9, for a panel titled, “Designing an End to End Controlled Substance Management Program,” as we address these diversion challenges head on during Omnicell Illuminate 2020.

The opioid crisis is not just a national issue, it’s also one of healthcare’s biggest challenges, making the security and accountability of controlled substances a priority for healthcare institutions. This multidisciplinary panel, representing pharmacy, nursing, and anesthesia, will engage in a cross functional dialogue about how best practices have evolved to meet the mounting regulatory and social pressure to fully account for and secure controlled substances.

This CE-accredited session will focus on the challenges of diversion, current gaps in controlled substance management that are putting patients and healthcare institutions at risk, and how technology can help drive better mitigation. Some of the hot button topics we’ll address include:

• Understanding the challenges of managing controlled substances within a health system from the perspectives of pharmacy, nursing and anesthesiology.
• Learning strategies to protect hospital staff and patients from the consequences of lack of controlled substance accountability.
• Adopting technology solutions to support controlled substance management.

We’ll define a blueprint for designing an end-to-end controlled substance management program. You’ll learn about the role of advanced analytics and pharmacy automation in helping to combat diversion across a health system. I’ll also be sharing my personal experiences addressing and managing diversion in my role at Texas Children’s.

Register today to discover the future of pharmacy at Omnicell Illuminate 2020 and explore our three-day slate of continuing education, networking, interactive demos, and more learning opportunities.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author(s). These views are always subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and may not be held in perpetuity.