The Department of Veterans Affairs is rolling out mobile pharmacies to provide critical medications to patients during emergencies, Government Health IT reports.
The mobile pharmacy units, which are housed in 40-foot solid steel trailers built to withstand winds in a category 3 storm, include a satellite connection with VA's Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy system. The computerized, automated mail-out pharmacy system can process more than 1,000 prescriptions per hour.
Pharmacists will be able to use the satellite system to obtain a veteran's prescription information to dispense the drugs on-site or send medications by mail to a veteran's home or temporary address.
In September 2007, VA unveiled its first mobile pharmacy in Washington, D.C., and expects to roll out its second mobile pharmacy later this month.
To ensure rapid emergency response, VA plans to strategically place its mobile pharmacies in:
- Charleston, S.C.;
- Dallas; and
- Murfreesboro, Tenn.
VA plans to place a fourth mobile pharmacy unit in the Western U.S. (Mosquera,
Government Health IT News, 3/19).