Hospitals produce millions of tons of waste every year, and a good portion of that waste are medicines used in patient treatments. Mismanaging pharmaceutical drugs in your hospital not only increases your costs unnecessarily, but leads to higher levels of waste. Here are two tips for reducing prescription drug waste in your facility, which can help you save money and achieve your green goals.

Use Patient Medication

It may seem unconventional, but the first thing you should do is implement a policy of inquiring the type of medication patients have at home and using that whenever possible. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it reduces the risk of problems arising if you don't have the same medications at the facility. It's common for hospitals to use similar meds if they don't have the exact kind the patient uses, but this can result in more problems, such as an allergic reaction or negative interaction with other drugs.

Second, using the patient's supply reduces the amount of medication you must use from your in-house pharmacy, which will save you money. Additionally, it'll make it easier to ensure patients remains compliant with their doctor's orders if they are transferred to other facilities. The patients can take their medications with them and remain on schedule.

Conduct Regular Audits

Another thing you can do is conduct regular audits on the medications you have in your pharmacy. Although there are computer programs that will track your inventory, it's a good idea to do a manual audit. Sometimes things get missed, which may result in overages and subsequently waste.

Even if you choose not to do a manual audit, you should review inventory reports on a regular basis. This can tell you if you are ordering too much of certain medications or if you're not using enough of others. It can also help you prepare for admission and treatment trends in your facility.

For instance, if you know there will be a heat wave in your area, you may want to stock up on benzodiazepines and other medications used to treat heat stroke but reduce the amount when fall and winter rolls around.

Reducing pharmaceutical waste can be challenging, especially in a volatile environment like a hospital where not having the right medicine can be immensely harmful. With the right tools and policies in place, however, you can make it work. For more tips on reducing pharmaceutical or other medical waste, contact a waste removal management company, like Peyton Services, for assistance.