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The pharmacy plays a crucial role in the function of both inpatient and outpatient diagnosis and treatment. The Valley County Health System Pharmacy staff is available to provide patients with services 7 days a week and strives to provide patients with the best level of pharmaceutical care possible.

The pharmacy staff delivers inpatient medications and stocks and prepares outpatient intravenous medications. Medication dispensing is provided to our patients and prescription services are not available to the general public.

The Medication Dispensing System (MDS) ensures medication is administered correctly. With the system, staff and patients can be assured that the right person gets the right medication in the right dose at the right time. The way it works is fairly simple. Medications are housed in large cabinets with numerous drawers that are connected to a computer. Medication orders are entered into the computer for each patient. When medication needs to be administered, nurses log into the system and the drawer containing that medication opens – ensuring the nurse gets the correct medication. If a medication has not been given, the system will alert the nurses to the omission.

Clinical services provided by the pharmacy department include renal drug monitoring, drug interaction monitoring, patient care rounding, therapeutic drug monitoring, and medication order review. The pharmacy staff also actively participates in researching and answering any medication related questions.

Medication reconciliation is performed by our dedicated pharmacy staff. This process involves comparing a patient's medication orders to all of the medications that the patient has been taking. This reconciliation is done to avoid medication errors such as omissions, duplications, dosing errors, or drug interactions. Medication reconciliation should be done at every transition of care in which new medications are ordered or existing orders are rewritten. Transitions in care include changes in setting, serviced practitioner or level of care.