While the
COVID-19 pandemic has forced many organizations to close their doors for an
extended period, pharmacies across the country have remained open to provide
essential medications and services. However, there are still a variety of
workplace adjustments and procedures that pharmacy owners must implement in
order to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
Review the
following guidance to help keep your employees and customers safe as you conduct
pharmacy operations in the midst of the pandemic. Keep in mind that this is general
guidance based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)—depending
on the location of your pharmacy, you may need to account for additional state
and local requirements or restrictions.
Employee
Health and Safety
During the
COVID-19 pandemic, it’s crucial to have measures in place to ensure the health
and safety of your staff. Consider these measures:
·
Utilize routine
meetings and emails to communicate with staff about the steps being taken to
prevent COVID-19 exposure at your pharmacy.
·
Provide an adequate
supply of paper towels, soap and hand sanitizer to allow staff to maintain
proper hand hygiene.
·
Offer tissues to
ensure employees follow proper cough and sneeze etiquette, as well as no-touch trash
bins for tissue disposal.
·
Educate employees on
the common symptoms of COVID-19 (e.g., fever, cough and shortness of breath).
Tell them to stay home from work if they have any symptoms.
·
Conduct a wellness
check on employees each day to ensure they are healthy and safe to enter the
pharmacy. If employees answer “yes” to either of the following questions, send
them home:
o
Have you or any
person you’ve been in close contact with (e.g., family members) been diagnosed
with COVID-19 in the past 14 days?
o
Have you experienced
any cold- or flu-like symptoms (e.g., fever, chills, cough, sore throat,
headache, stuffy or runny nose, vomiting or diarrhea) in the past 72 hours?
·
Provide employees
with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). At a glance, pharmacy
employees should consider the following PPE:
o
Gloves and gowns
o
Cloth face coverings
or surgical masks
o
Face shields or eye
goggles
·
Require employees to
wash their hands after entering the pharmacy, after working with a customer,
after touching their mask or face covering, after using the restroom and after
leaving the pharmacy.
·
Train employees on
the following topics:
o
How to safely put
on, use, remove and store PPE
o
How to maintain
proper hand hygiene and follow sneeze and cough etiquette
o
How to maintain
social distancing guidelines
o
How to clean and
disinfect surfaces and equipment properly
o
How to enforce
health and safety requirements with customers
o
How to recognize
areas or practices that increase the risk of COVID-19 exposure, as well as how
to report these concerns
·
Implement proper
signage throughout the pharmacy to remind staff of proper health and safety
practices.
·
Establish a process
for reviewing employees’ workplace health and safety concerns related to
COVID-19 exposure and determining mitigation methods in a timely manner.
Cleaning
and Disinfection Practices
Because your pharmacy
offers services that require close contact between staff and customers and possesses
a wide range of surfaces that both customers and employees touch frequently,
utilizing proper cleaning and disinfection measures is vital. Use these
cleaning and disinfection best practices:
·
Maintain a stocked
supply of cleaning and disinfection products. Be sure to purchase products that
meet Environmental Protection Agency criteria for use against COVID-19.
Further, review all product labels, safety data sheets and manufacturer
specifications to ensure proper storage and use.
·
Designate specific
staff to be responsible for maintaining proper cleaning and disinfection
practices.
·
Keep in mind that if
surfaces or equipment are dirty, they should be cleaned with soap and water, or
detergent prior to disinfection.
·
Utilize a
well-documented system to track how often cleaning and disinfection takes place.
Increase cleaning and disinfection frequency for the entire pharmacy, paying
special attention to high-risk areas—such as medication pickup counters, checkout
stations, waiting areas and restrooms.
·
Do not provide magazines
or other shared items in pharmacy waiting areas. Disinfect waiting area items
(e.g., chairs) between each customer.
·
Consider the
following changes to restrooms:
o
Allow for doors to
multi-stall restrooms to be opened and closed without touching handles, if
feasible. This could entail adding a foot pull or encouraging occupants to touch
the door handle with a paper towel rather than their bare hands.
o
In single-occupancy
restrooms, use proper signage and materials (e.g., paper towels and trash cans)
to encourage occupants to not touch handles. Restrict access to
single-occupancy restrooms with a key to allow staff to monitor its use and
disinfect it regularly.
o
Use signage to
encourage occupants to close toilet lids before flushing and wash their hands
before and after using the restroom.
o
Provide paper towels
for drying hands, and adequate trash bins. Prohibit the use of air dryers.
·
Install numerous
hand-washing (or hand-sanitizing, if hand-washing is not possible) stations
throughout your pharmacy. Specifically, make sure you have these stations
located at the entrance and exit of the pharmacy. Implement signage encouraging
employees and customers to use these stations frequently.
·
Prevent staff from
sharing any workplace tools or equipment. If employees must share any tools or
equipment, establish proper cleaning and disinfecting procedures before and
after each use.
·
Ensure proper air
ventilation throughout the pharmacy. Be sure to clean HVAC systems regularly.
·
Have employees place
their work clothing in a sealed plastic bag after each use, as if the materials
are contaminated. Have these materials laundered by washing and drying on the
highest temperature setting possible for the fabric. Ensure staff wear masks or
face coverings when handling dirty laundry. If your pharmacy does not provide
laundry services, provide employees with instructions for safely washing and
drying their materials at home.
Customer Health
and Safety
There are
several factors that you must consider in order to promote proper health and
safety standards for your customers. First, it’s important to reduce transmission
risks. Follow these tips:
·
Encourage customers
to use drive-thru, curbside pickup or medication delivery options as opposed to
physically entering the pharmacy, if possible.
·
Consider conducting
a wellness check on customers, similar to that of your employees, to ensure
they are healthy and safe to enter the pharmacy. If customers answer “yes” to
either of the following questions, do not let them enter the pharmacy:
o
Have you or any
person you’ve been in close contact with (e.g., family members) been diagnosed
with COVID-19 in the past 14 days?
o
Have you experienced
any cold- or flu-like symptoms (e.g., fever, chills, cough, sore throat,
headache, stuffy or runny nose, vomiting or diarrhea) in the past 72 hours?
·
Limit the number of customers
in the pharmacy at any given time. Only allow customers who are actually picking
up medication or receiving services to be in the pharmacy (as opposed to
socializing). In addition, consider offering special hours for vulnerable customers
only (e.g., older adults). Keep in mind that depending on the location of your pharmacy,
you may need to account for additional state and local restrictions regarding
the number of customers allowed in the pharmacy at a time. Be sure to comply
with all applicable rules.
·
Place a barrier
(e.g., plexiglass or a plastic sheet) between employees and customers at all
medication pickup counters to limit physical contact. Install a small opening
at the bottom of each barrier to allow employees to provide medication and
communicate with customers.
·
Consider offering
self-checkout stations for all non-prescription purchases. Provide disinfecting
wipes to allow customers to clean stations before and after using them.
·
Utilize contactless
payment procedures and medication transfers as much as possible. Discourage the
use of cash and credit cards. If employees and customers have any physical
contact during a payment procedure or medication transfer, both parties should
be encouraged to wash or sanitize their hands immediately afterward.
·
Encourage customers
to take a picture of their insurance or benefit cards and submit it via your
website or read the information out loud (in a private area where others cannot
hear) rather than handing their cards to employees.
·
Use floor markings
and signage to enforce social distancing guidelines.
·
Utilize an isolated
area for delivery companies to drop off medication and supplies quickly to minimize
their time in the pharmacy.
Apart from these
practices, it’s also crucial to communicate with customers via your website,
email, social media and pharmacy signage on the steps your pharmacy is taking
to protect them and the rules that they need to follow to do their part.
Include the
following information for customers in your communications:
·
Please utilize
drive-thru, curbside pickup or medication delivery options as much as possible.
Only enter the pharmacy if absolutely necessary. If you are at higher risk of
getting sick, consider having someone who is not at higher risk pick up your
medications for you.
·
If you are sick or
have any COVID-19 symptoms, stay home. If anyone in your household is sick,
stay home as well.
·
Minimize contact
with employees and other customers as much as possible within the pharmacy. Provide
as much information (e.g., medication or insurance information) as you can via
the phone or our website before your visit to reduce your time spent in the
pharmacy.
·
Limit the items you
touch in the pharmacy to only those you intend to purchase.
·
Wear a mask or face
covering at all times within the pharmacy. Wash or sanitize your hands before
and after leaving the pharmacy.
·
Keep in mind that
the pharmacy has the right to refuse service to anyone who has COVID-19
symptoms or fails to follow pharmacy guidelines.
Additional
Considerations
Lastly, be sure
to review your pharmacy’s operations and make any additional adjustments
necessary to help limit the spread of COVID-19 and keep your staff and customers
safe. Follow these measures:
·
Keep any areas of
the pharmacy that are unable to follow social distancing or proper sanitation
guidelines closed.
·
Ask all prescribers
to submit prescription orders online or over the phone to avoid handling paper
prescriptions.
·
If your pharmacy is conducting
COVID-19 tests, be sure to follow all guidance from the CDC and OSHA, as well
as your state and local health departments on topics such as testing
prioritization, respiratory specimen collection best
practices and staff PPE requirements.
·
Maintain adequate
records of all customers—including names, contact information and visit dates—to
be able to assist if contact tracing is needed. Do the same for employee
records and work schedules.
·
Ensure that all of
your operations are compliant with federal, state and local guidelines, as well
as industry best practices. Consider designating one or multiple employees to
be responsible for ensuring compliance.
By following
these precautions, your pharmacy can continue to provide essential medications
and services to your community, while also keeping employees and customers as
healthy and safe as possible. For additional COVID-19 resources, contact us today.
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