RETAIL PHARMACY

HMC Rx Care Pharmacy is a full-service retail pharmacy. We have trained clinical pharmacists and staff to address your pharmacy needs. We are located on the lower level of Hamilton Medical Center, near the cafeteria, and we pride ourselves in serving Hamilton Associates and patients of Hamilton Medical Center. We are committed to providing personal and professional service at competitive prices every day. We accept most major insurance plans. The HMC Rx Care Pharmacy is open 7:00 am-5:30 pm, Monday – Friday.

Discharge Prescription Service

At Hamilton Medical Center, filling prescriptions before you leave the hospital is fast and simple with our Meds-To-Go service.

• If you wish to have your prescriptions filled upon discharge, you may have your physician send your prescriptions to HMC Rx Cares Pharmacy.
• A current copy of your prescription insurance card is required before prescriptions can be filled.
• Georgia Medicaid, Peachcare, and most third-party prescription plans are accepted.
• Take-home prescriptions cannot be charged to your hospital bill. You will be required to pay at the time they are picked up.
• Medication Therapy Management services are also available upon request.
• Our pharmacists are available to answer any questions you may have regarding your prescription or over-the-counter medication needs.

Long Term Care Pharmacy

• The HMC Long Term Care Pharmacy provides prescription services for our four long term care facilities, Quinton Memorial, Regency Park, Ridgewood Manor, and Wood Dale.
• Our Pharmacy is staffed by highly trained, registered pharmacists and pharmacy technicians and provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week emergency coverage.
• We provide two medication deliveries to each facility Monday through Friday ensuring that each patient is provided their medication needs in a timely manner.
• Our pharmacy accepts Georgia Medicaid and most third party prescription plans. We also offer monthly statements for convenient account payment processing.

Safety First

Patient safety is fundamental to all that we do.

• Each and every patient individually tracked.
• Technology and innovation are used to aid in safe and effective drug distribution.
• Drug distribution is done primarily through automated devices on each unit that are interfaced with the pharmacy computer system.
• Bar-code technology is used throughout the purchasing and restocking process to ensure that the right medication is stocked in the correct location in each medication cabinet or delivered to the correct patient.
• Our pharmacists review each order written by prescribers.
• Our Pharmacy is staffed by highly trained, registered pharmacists and pharmacy technicians 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• We use a particulate-free clean room for sterile compounding of medications such as chemotherapy drugs, intravenous nutrition replacement, and intravenous solutions.

Pharmacy Responsibilities

• To maintain a safe, efficient system for dispensing medications.
• To act as a drug information resource to clinical staff on the selection, dosage, and administration of medications.
• To review patient medication regimens.
• To screen all new orders for potential problems such as drug allergies, drug interactions, intravenous (IV) incompatibilities and the need for dose adjustments. Physicians are informed of potential problems and alternatives.
• Intensive Care Unit rounding with multidisciplinary medical team to provide drug information and collaboratively monitor patients’ responses to their medications.
• To be actively involved in monitoring antibiotic therapy, total parenteral nutrition (TPN) therapy, IV therapy, and any medications that require additional laboratory monitoring such as anticoagulants.
• To provide electronic progress notes by pharmacists contain information regarding pharmacokinetic dosing recommendations, warfarin therapy, renal/hepatic dosing adjustments or other information related to a patient’s medication therapy.

Surgery Pharmacy

• Our Operating Room Satellite Pharmacy (ORSP) offers pharmacy services inside the operating room Monday through Friday.
• The ORSP is staffed by clinical pharmacists and trained technicians who serve our operating rooms to provide support to the operating room staff, including anesthesia and nursing, and most importantly, to care for patient.

Clinical Informatics

• Informatics Pharmacists work with multidisciplinary teams to develop decision support and information resources for the CPOE system. The decision support is focused on improving safety, providing education and reducing cost of drug therapy.

What can I do to make my treatment the best regarding my medications?

• Bring a list of the medications (including dosages)or the actual medications in the prescription bottles that you are currently using at home. These should include medications prescribed by your physician and those purchased over the counter, as well as herbal medications and nutraceuticals.
• Inform your caregivers of any medications you cannot take.
• Bring the name and telephone number of the pharmacy you use in case there are any questions about your prescriptions.
• Ask questions about any new medications you may receive if you don’t understand what they are for or why they are being given to you.

May I take my meds from home? 

• Many patients bring their medications with them upon hospital admission so their physician can verify the medications and doses. Following review of the medications, we recommend that the medications be sent home with a friend or family member. If this is not possible, the hospital has a place to store them safely until you are discharged from the hospital.
• By sending them home, we help eliminate the possibility that you receive extra doses, receive medications that might interact with one other, or receive medications that your physician may not know that you are taking.
• In special cases, it may be necessary for you to take your own medication while in the hospital. Those cases are:
  • Birth Control pills still in the original container.
  • Non-Formulary ophthalmic drops, otic drops, oral inhalers or nasal inhalers still in the original manufacturer’s container.
  • Non-Formulary medications otherwise not available.
  • Medications administered via continuous infusion pump at home.
• For your safety, we use medications ordered by your doctors and dispensed by our hospital pharmacy. Although we understand your willingness to use medications brought from home, it is important that each of your doctors, and other caregivers knows what medications you are to take while in the hospital.
• During your stay with us, a medication list (or profile) is made so that doctors, pharmacists, and nurses have access to the same information regarding your medications.
• It is important that our patients receive the right drug, at the right time, in the right amounts, and potentially dangerous drug interactions are avoided. Bedside barcode scanning is utilized by your nurse as a major safety initiative to help assure this. Therefore, hospital barcoded, individually packaged medications need to be utilized to take advantage of this major patient safety process.
• It also may be necessary to change the dosage of your medications due to changes in your condition or due to effects from other drugs. Continuing to take your own medications may result in serious adverse reactions which are harmful to you and extend your hospitalization.

Using the medications ordered, dispensed, and administered at Hamilton Medical Center will help assure that you receive safe and effective treatment. Just what the doctor ordered!

 If you are admitted under the status of observation or as an outpatient and are covered by Medicare, you will be financially responsible for all oral medications administered to you during your stay. Medicare does not cover medications for these admissions.