The ASHP Research and Education Foundation developed this tool to support pandemic influenza planning efforts in departments of pharmacy and to foster pharmacist involvement in pandemic preparedness at the institutional and community levels. This tool was developed by an expert panel composed of health-system pharmacists, physicians, pandemic influenza policy experts, a healthcare executive and a representative from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Development of this tool was supported by Roche.
Principles for Use
The Expert Panel identified the following principles to guide the use of this
tool:
Every hospital and health system-based department of pharmacy should have
a plan for pandemic influenza.
The department of pharmacy Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan must be part
of and coordinated with the institutional plan.
While this tool is intended
to be useful for all health-system and hospital-based departments of pharmacy, its
use will vary based on the institution’s size, geographic location, services provided
and available resources.
While there are unique aspects
of preparing for and responding to pandemic influenza, many institutions may choose
to integrate pandemic influenza preparedness into the institution’s broader emergency
preparedness plan. This tool can be used to guide the pandemic influenza section
of the department of pharmacy’s emergency preparedness plan.
In some cases, institutions
may choose not to maintain a separate department of pharmacy plan. Rather,
the pharmacy plan may be a component of the larger institutional plan. The ASHP
Foundation encourages the use of this tool to guide the department of pharmacy section
of the institutional pandemic influenza preparedness plan.
The ASHP Foundation has attempted
to include the assessment questions under the most appropriate planning category.
However, in some cases an assessment question might be applicable to multiple planning
categories.
Numerous Web-based resources are included in this tool to support efforts
to effectively plan for pandemic influenza. However, the provision of a link
to a particular site does not imply ASHP Foundation endorsement of the Web site’s
content.
While this document is intended to be helpful to hospital and health-system
departments of pharmacy in their pandemic influenza preparedness planning, it does
not purport to establish the standard of care.
This document is intended to support pharmacy departments’ efforts to maintain
a quality Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan. The reports that result from
use of the Pandemic Influenza Assessment Tool for Health-System Pharmacy DepartmentsTM are for internal peer-review purposes
only.
| The information contained in this self-assessment tool is constantly evolving because
of ongoing research and improvements in technology and is subject to the professional
judgment and interpretation of the practitioner due to the uniqueness of each pharmacy
department’s role in pandemic influenza preparedness. The ASHP Research and Education
Foundation, the expert panel, reviewers and Roche have made reasonable efforts to
ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of the information presented. However, any
reader of this information is advised that the ASHP Research and Education Foundation,
the expert panel, reviewers and Roche are not responsible for the continued currency
of the information, for any errors or omissions and/or for any consequences arising
from the use of the information in the self-assessment tool in any and all practice
settings. Any reader of this document is cautioned that ASHP and Roche make no representation,
guarantee or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy and appropriateness
of the information contained in this self-assessment tool and will bear no responsibility
or liability for the results or consequences of its use. |