A. POLICY

A physician's order will be considered to be a routine order for processing and filling unless it has been identified as a NOW or STAT order.

B. ROUTINE ORDERS

Most drug and pharmaceutical orders are handled routinely. The orders are usually received by the facsimile transmission or entered into order verification queue in the computerized practitioner order entry system (CPOE). The approximate turn around time is one hour after the order is received.

C. NOW ORDERS

A "NOW" order indicates that the first dose of the medication is to be given as soon as possible then the remaining doses follow the scheduled dosage times. All antibiotic orders are considered "NOW" orders.

A "NOW" order must be designated in some manner so that it can be handled as high priority in pharmacy.

When the practitioner is entering the order into the CPOE system they must select the "NOW" designation.

A "NOW" order should take 30 minutes or less to process and fill.

D. STAT ORDERS

Drug which are life-saving and require immediate use may be designated as "STAT" drugs. Items of this type are usually found in the Crash Cart or can be accessed via override in the Pyxis machine. The practitioner must enter the order into the system as "STAT" to identify these orders. "STAT" orders will be filled and sent to the nursing division immediately upon receipt.

"NOW" and "STAT" orders are automatically catergorized to appear at the top of the pharmacists' verification queue in the pharmacy computer system so that they will be processed immediately.