Deglufarm: Mobile application with recommendations for safety drug administration in patients with dysphagia or deglution disorders. / Deglufarm: aplicación móvil con recomendaciones para la administración segura de medicamentos en pacientes con disfagia o problemas de deglución.

OBJECTIVE: Develop an App to use in healthcare practice, with updated and accurate information on the handling of medications in patients with dysphagia or deglution disorders, as well as their compatibility with food and thickeners. METHODS: The development of the Deglufarm® App was based on the CRONOS, Nutrition and Techno working groups of the Sociedad Española de Farmacia Hospitalaria. A group of specialist pharmacists was created from different care areas for patients with dysphagia. The creation of Deglufarm® consisted of several stages: Selection of active drugs, literature review, content development, design (an expert company in App design was contacted), testing, launch, content update and follow-up. RESULTS: Deglufarm® is available for Android and IOS free of charge from July 2022. It has been tested among the members of the research group and collaborators, currently, 540 monographs of active drugs have been reviewed and registered in Deglufarm. The first version is aimed at healthcare professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Deglufarm® is an easy tool to consult, with the most current evidence on handling the medicines it contains.

[Translated article] Deglufarm: Mobile application with recommendations for the safe administration of drugs in patients with dysphagia or swallowing disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Develop an App to use in healthcare practice, with updated and accurate information on the handling of medications in patients with dysphagia or deglution disorders, as well as their compatibility with food and thickeners. METHODS: The development of the Deglufarm® App was based on the CRONOS, Nutrition and Techno working groups of the Sociedad Española de Farmacia Hospitalaria. A group of specialist pharmacists was created from different care areas for patients with dysphagia. The creation of Deglufarm® consisted of several stages: selection of active drugs, literature review, content development, design (an expert company in App design was contacted), testing, launch, content update and follow-up. RESULTS: Deglufarm® is available for Android and IOS free of charge from July 2022. It has been tested among the members of the research group and collaborators, Currently, 540 monographs of active drugs have been reviewed and registered in Deglufarm. The first version is aimed at healthcare professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Deglufarm® is an easy tool to consult, with the most current evidence on handling the medicines it contains.

Pharmaceutical management of the COVID-19 pandemic in a mid-size hospital.

The purpose of this article is to report the experience of the Department of Hospital Pharmacy of a mid-size hospital during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The human and material resources available in a mid-size hospital were more limited than in larger hospitals of the region. In this article, we describe how this Department of Hospital Pharmacy was reorganized to meet the increase in activity, the strategies developed and the  lessons learned for future pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic had a higher  impact in Leganes, a city in the south of Madrid, with a population of 190,000.  In the face of the dramatic increase in the proportion of patients attending our  hospital between March and April 2020, the Severo Ochoa University Hospital  increased the number of beds by 24.5% and fitted out new premises inside and  outside the hospital (sports centers). The mean number of patients seen in our  Emergency Department every day passed from 70-80 to a peak of 286 patients, with 652 hospitalized patients. The situation of emergency created by  this infectious disease, with management protocols changing constantly, had a  dramatic impact on the activity of hospital pharmacies. Thus, the pandemic has  affected areas of economic management, magistral preparation, dispensing of  medication to inpatients, ambulatory patients, patients monitored at home,  institutionalized patients, and patients from private hospitals and field hospitals.  Other areas affected include training, clinical trials, pharmacovigilance, and  counseling boards. Two strategies were adopted to overcome these problems: a  strategy centered on human resources (staff reinforcement, reallocation of  responsibilities), and a strategy centered on processes (some processes were  reinforced to meet the increase in activity, whereas other were temporarily suspended or reduced to the minimum).Conclusions: The Department of Hospital Pharmacy plays a key role  in hospitals and has been significantly reinforced to meet the dramatic impact of  the pandemic on this service. This Department has been able to reorganize its  processes and take over new responsibilities such as telepharmacy and home  dispensing. Hospital pharmacies play a crucial role in  pharmacotherapeutic decisions in hospitals. As in other Departments, training is  the area more significantly affected by the pandemic.

El objetivo de este artículo es describir la experiencia del servicio de farmacia de un hospital mediano, en el período álgido de la pandemia de COVID-19, con  recursos humanos y materiales más limitados que otros hospitales de su entorno de mayor tamaño. Se analiza cómo afrontó su reorganización, debido al  incremento de su actividad, así como las estrategias desarrolladas y las  lecciones aprendidas para afrontar el futuro. La pandemia por COVID-19 tuvo  especial repercusión en el municipio de Leganés, una ciudad de 190.000  habitantes al sur de Madrid. Ante el incremento de la afluencia de pacientes  entre los meses de marzo y abril de 2020, el Hospital Universitario Severo  Ochoa llegó a asumir un 24,5% más de camas, incluyendo nuevas ubicaciones  tanto dentro como fuera del hospital (pabellón deportivo). Siendo la media de  frecuentación del Servicio de Urgencias de 70-80 pacientes, se llegó a alcanzar  un pico de 286 pacientes y 652 pacientes ingresados. Esta situación de  emergencia y el abordaje de una patología infecciosa, con protocolos de  tratamiento en continua revisión, impactó en todas las áreas y actividades del  servicio de farmacia: adquisiciones, gestión económica, elaboración de  medicamentos y dispensación a pacientes hospitalizados, pacientes externos y  ambulantes, domiciliaria, a centros geriátricos, hospitales de gestión privada y  hospitales de campaña. Se vieron afectadas áreas como la formación, los  ensayos clínicos, la farmacovigilancia y las comisiones hospitalarias. Para  superar los problemas, se aplicaron dos estrategias: una centrada en los  recursos humanos (reforzamiento de áreas, reasignación de responsabilidades) y otra focalizada en los procesos (procesos que se reforzaron por un aumento de  la actividad, procesos que se suspendieron temporalmente por la pandemia y  procesos que se redujeron al mínimo).Conclusiones: El servicio de farmacia es una pieza clave en el hospital cuyas  funciones principales son las primeras perjudicadas, pero a la vez las más  reforzadas durante la pandemia. Ha tenido la capacidad de reorganizar sus  procesos para asimilar nuevas actividades, como la telefarmacia y la  dispensación domiciliaria. Juega un papel importante en las decisiones  farmacoterapéuticas del hospital. Al igual que otros servicios clínicos, la  formación ha sido el área más perjudicada.

[The application of new technologies to hospital pharmacy in Spain]. / Aplicación de las nuevas tecnologías a la farmacia hospitalaria en España.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the degree of introduction of new technologies in the medication use process in pharmacy services in Spain. METHOD: A descriptive study via a survey into the degree of introduction of computer systems for: management, computerized physician order entry (CPOE), automated unit dose drug dispensing, preparation of parenteral nutrition solutions, recording drug administration, pharmaceutical care and foreseen improvements. The survey was sent by electronic mail to the heads of the pharmacy services of 207 hospitals throughout Spain. RESULTS: Response index: 82 hospitals (38.6%). 29 hospitals (36.7%) have a modular management system, 24 (30.4%) an integrated one and 34 (44.9%) a modular-integrated one. CPOE is utilised in 17 (22.4%). According to the size of the hospital, between 17.9 and 26.7% of unit dose dispensing is done online with a management software; between 5.1 and 33.3% of unit dose dispensing is automated. Automation of unit dose dispensing centred in the pharmacy service varies between 10 and 33.3%. Between 13.2 and 35.7% of automated in-ward dispensing systems are utilised. Administration records are kept manually on a computerised sheet at 23 (31.5%) of the hospitals; at 4 (5.4%) on CPOE and 7 (9.5%) online on the integral management programme and 4 (5.4%) on specific nursing softwares. Sixty-three per cent foresee the implementation of improvements in the short to medium term. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of new technologies is being developed in Spain aiming to improve the safety and management of drugs, and there is a trend towards increasing their deployment in the near future. It is hoped that their fomentation could help to bring about process reengineering within pharmacy services in order to increase the time available for devotion to pharmaceutical care.