Many have suggested pharmacists ought to review clinicians’ medication orders to aid in preventing errors in hospitals. The problem is that hospitals in rural areas can have a difficult time providing pharmacist coverage around the clock. A group of critical access hospitals in northeast Minnesota recently tested a program called after-hours remote pharmacy order entry system (ARPOE), which lets them submit medication orders to a hub hospital that can provide 24-hour pharmacy staff.

The eight hospitals participating in the demo project used a central hospital in Duluth to review all medication orders after rural hospital pharmacists were off duty. Read more