Hospital Pharmacy streamlining service while enhancing safety

The staff here includes four pharmacists and 40 pharmacy technicians. Anyone eligible to use a military treatment facility can use the pharmacy, including Medicare eligible military retirees and their authorized family members.

The hospital's pharmacy department head is Lt. Cmdr. Denise Leveling and the assistant department head is Lt. Michael Cleveland.

According to Cleveland, the main pharmacy only fills prescriptions from the Emergency Department after 6 p.m. This is to comply with Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations guidelines concerning manning and other concerns," Cleveland said. "They start taking prescriptions at 7:30 a.m. daily in the main pharmacy."

"The pharmacy staff is working hard to make accessing service easier, safer and faster for patients," explained Cleveland. "Over the last few years, the hospital's pharmacy has gone high-tech in the form of robotics and a bar-coded prescription system which has streamlined processing significantly while enhancing safety."

"The current wait time from the moment the patient's information is "batched" by system screeners and is entered into the automated processing is less than 20 minutes. The pharmacy staff is working to double the number of front line screeners to minimize wait time in that part of the process as well," continued Cleveland.

"The hospital and military medicine are using technology to improve care both on the homefront and the battlefield. Looking into the future, the military healthcare system is considering pharmacy systems that will be more centralized and allow easier flexibility of data transfer between facilities," Cleveland said.

The hospital's TRICARE Prime enrollment population includes more than 63,800 beneficiaries, many of whom use the Naval Hospital Jacksonville Pharmacy for their prescriptions. That means immediate access to that friendly pharmacy staff member behind the counter may never be realized, still the staff is working hard to serve you expediently, courteously and safely. They are shaving off more minutes all the time as they study their processes for opportunities to be more accessible.

Refills can be called in via the hospital's automated refill system by dialing 542-7410 or toll-free at 1-800-628-7427. Access the pharmacy refill system online at www.navalhospitaljax.med.navy.mil. For assistance from a pharmacy technician call 542-7405/7406.

Customers can also use the TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy (TMOP). Although this system requires a co-pay, it is especially useful for patients who travel long distances for service. Through TMOP, prescription orders can be delivered right to the beneficiary's door. To access TMOP, call Express Scripts at 1-866-363-8667 or go to www.express-scripts.com/TRICARE.

Customers can also co-pay retail pharmacists for their prescriptions. "Whatever option you choose, beneficiaries should always know that the hospital pharmacy will always welcome you at our window and strive to serve you exactly as we would like to be served," said Cleveland.