Mount Nittany Medical Center Pharmacists Inducted into Patient Safety Hall of Fame

December 22, 2022
General News & Announcements
Quality/Awards
3 min read

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Mount Nittany Health is pleased to announce Amanda Holyk, PharmD, BCCCP, Hayden Hayward, PharmD, and Jessica McDonald, PharmD, Pharmacy Department, Mount Nittany Medical Center, have been inducted into the 2022 CHART Institute Patient Safety Hall of Fame. CHART Institute is a federally listed Patient Safety Organization (PSO) that provides a secure environment for analyzing events to improve patient safety.

All three team members were recognized for playing an integral role in implementing Bayesian dosing software, InsightRX, to assist with vancomycin dosing. Transitioning from traditional to AUC based dosing was a recent guideline best practice recommendation. The Pharmacy team was able to implement and optimize this quickly to help provide the best service for our patients. Since implementation in quarter three of 2021, data collected from each quarter shows that Mount Nittany Medical Center has been and continues to be above the combined all-organization average for all InsightRX users.

During quarter three of 2022, Mount Nittany Medical Center reached an AUC24 within the target range 61% of the time versus an all-organization average of 42%. In the same quarter, Mount Nittany Medical Center had half the rate of acute kidney injuries (AKIs) occurring after 48 hours into vancomycin therapy compared to the all-organization average.

Amanda, Hayden and Jessica assisted the pharmacists in achieving these metrics by combining the Bayesian software with their vast clinical knowledge. Through onboarding and education of the pharmacists using this dosing software, they have proven that Mount Nittany Medical Center is striving to provide efficacious and safe vancomycin therapy to our patients.

Ashley Kader, PharmD, BCPS, Manager, Pharmacy Department, Mount Nittany Medical Center acknowledged her team’s incredible work on this program: “The team really hit the ground running with this software.  We quickly realized that we were ahead of other facilities in implementing this to align with the newest vancomycin dosing guidelines.  Their hard work has paid off and I’m so proud of all of the pharmacists in their appropriate use of this program.  Vancomycin dosing has changed significantly since most of us learned pharmacokinetics in school.  Now we have these metrics to finally show the dedication that pharmacists have to provide the most efficacious and safest dose for our patients.”

Please join us in congratulating Amanda, Hayden and Jessica on receiving this honor. Thank you for providing our patients with excellent clinical care and for contributing to our mission, “Healthier people, stronger community.”  

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