November, 2003
Added features to MCAH website
Chongge honored for positive contributions
United Way Event Photos - Page 4
On-line Annual Compliance Training - Page 5
Bringing good cheer to those in need - Page 6
As Chief Pharmacists for the Orange County Central Jail, Musick and Theo Lacy Correctional Pharmacies, Erenia Perry, Pharm. D., MS, and Lilly Nakaiye, Pharm. D., ensure that proper pharmaceutical services are planned for the residents of the jails as well as providing pharmacy services to physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and licensed vocational nurses. The services they provide also extend to the resident minors at Juvenile Health Services, which is comprised of the facilities at Juvenile Hall, Orangewood and Juvenile Camps.
Not limited to just the provision of prescriptions, both Erenia and Lilly's activities also incorporate the provision of drug information, and prevention of medication interactions and complications. Sharing an interest in providing the best pharmaceutical services to the clients they serve, Erenia and Lilly work together to ensure that the goals of the Correctional Medical Services (CMS) Program are fulfilled and collaborate closely with other professionals in the community to gather knowledge and learn new things.
"The profession of pharmacy requires interaction and collaboration with many other professions," said Lilly. "We have been fortunate to be able to gain new knowledge and experience from the professionals we have come to meet."
Both graduates of the University of Southern California with Doctor of Pharmacy degrees, Erenia and Lilly have experience as Orange County Sheriff's Department Professional Services Reserve Officers. In this volunteer position Erenia had the opportunity to become involved with the Samantha Runion case by answering hotline calls during the investigation, and Lilly served as a member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction team.
Erenia began her career with HCA in 2001 as Chief Pharmacist. She was first motivated to pursue a career in pharmacy when she was a sophomore in high school. She was interested in a healthcare career and soon found a desire to learn about innovative medications designed to treat various disease states.
Prior to joining HCA, Erenia worked as a Clinical Pharmacist for a hospital in Santa Monica and was quickly promoted to Assistant Director, later becoming the Director of Pharmaceutical Services. Erenia has also worked as a pharmacy manager in a homecare company, and as a general manager, where she was responsible for providing intradialytic and peritoneal solutions for dialysis patients in 25 Western states.
"The desire to make people feel better and improve their health so that they can have a better quality of life to live longer is what really motivated me to pursue a career in healthcare," said Erenia.
Lilly has been with HCA since 1991 and began her
career as the Pharmacy Director of the CMS Pharmacy in the
Central
Men's Jail. She is currently involved in assuring that the
new pharmacy being built at Theo Lacy will be compliant and
operational once opened, and shares the responsibility and
representation of the Pharmacy Department in the Pharmacy and
Therapeutics Committee with Erenia.
Before joining HCA, Lilly was introduced to the medical side of corrections as a consultant to the Long Beach Jail and the Long Beach Public Health Department. This practice area of pharmacy was quite different from Lilly's previous exposure, which involved working at UCLA, Kaiser Permanente and community pharmacy settings.
"For as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed chemistry and biology," said Lilly. "My attraction to these two sciences resulted in a narrowing of options for my career choice and the profession of pharmacy allows me to indulge my desire to work with people in a variety of professions."
Both Erenia and Lilly are acknowledged for their positive efforts in identifying savings for CMS. Erenia has been able to
Working together with Auditor-Controller Countywide Accounting and Personnel System (CAPS) staff, HCA is leading the County into electronic requisitioning for services and supplies. HCA has completed the implementation of the new electronic requisitioning system which allows requisitions to be entered online, automatically routed (by email) to designated approvers and on to Purchasing. Five hundred HCA employees from 38 different programs have been trained to use the new system. Some of the benefits of the new system include:
• Significant reduction in processing time;
• Initiators now have the ability to track the status of their requisitions on line;
• Approvals by supervisors and budget analysts are now done on line;
• The system provides audit trails for authentication purposes; and
• Purchasing can review and convert the requisitions into purchase orders or contracts online.
In June 2003, an initial analysis was conducted to evaluate time savings created by the newly automated requisition system, using the Women Infant Children (WIC) program as a pilot. The findings were dramatic. Requisition-processing time for WIC during the period from January 2003 - June 2003 had been reduced from an average of 2 weeks to 2 days. Now that all programs are online, HCA Purchasing is conducting a new study to examine time savings over a variety of programs, and the results of that study will be available in the coming weeks.
With the implementation of the new system, there has been a noticeable change in the overall perception of the HCA purchasing process. The improved system has created a more satisfied customer population, and the streamlined process has allowed for more effective use of Purchasing staff by reducing the number of calls they handle to answer questions on the status of requisitions. HCA Purchasing staff can now dedicate more time to focusing on their objective of pursing significant cost savings for the Agency.
During the implementation phase, the HCA and CAPS team encountered and overcame challenges such as meeting the needs of multiple users, and meeting the project implementation schedule despite competing priorities and limited resources. We are now working with CAPS to implement the next stage of the automated system, electronic receiving, which will allow programs to receive shipments and electronically notify Purchasing and the Auditor-Controller. This will not only reduce paper flow, it will also speed up payments to vendors, which ultimately could result in improved prices.
Continuing challenges include ongoing training of new users, resources for staffing the Helpdesk, and monitoring the suspense file to identify and correct requisitions which have errors in information or coding. Quarterly training sessions will be conducted starting December 2003 using the "super user" concept. If you have training needs or questions regarding the electronic requisitioning system, you should contact Bruce Thomas in Purchasing at (714) 834-5108.
HCA Purchasing wants to thank Auditor-Controller staff, HCA IT, Program Support personnel and, particularly, program staff, for making this such a successful project.
Now through the month of December, Employee Health will be offering flu vaccine to County employees for just $11 at the Employee Health Services clinic located at 405 W. 5th Street, Suite 601 in Santa Ana. To check on times for the flu shot clinics, please call Employee Health at (714) 834-5974 before going to their office.
Some County employees have been able to take advantage of flu shot clinics held at their work locations because their jobs place them at an increased risk of contracting and transmitting the flu. These clinics will wrap up during December at the Sheriff Department's Intake and Release Center and the James Musick Jail.
Each year's flu shot is designed to provide protection against the major types of flu expected that year. You cannot get the flu from a flu shot because the vaccine is produced from an inactivated or "killed" virus that is incapable of giving you the flu. Another benefit of the flu vaccine is helping to preserve your annual leave time, so for your health and the health of others around you, consider a flu shot as part of your healthy lifestyle.
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work with various pharmaceutical companies in collecting discounts that are available and recently collected a large rebate, while Lilly, early on in her association with the County, worked with HCA Purchasing to change how CMS acquired pharmaceuticals by associating with a Purchasing Group. Lilly also collaborates and coordinates the provision of educational programs and equipment from pharmaceutical companies at no cost to the County.
Additionally, staff acknowledge the professionalism and positive hard-working nature that both Erenia and Lilly display. They have made quite an impression on program staff, who strive to maintain the same professional and proactive demeanor displayed by this duo of chief pharmacists.
The Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health (MCAH) Program recently added
two new features on its website to assist the community and providers in
locating a variety of helpful services available to them. By visiting
www.ochealthinfo.com/mcah/caa.htm online, individuals may locate Certified Application
Assistants in their area who are ready to help answer questions in completing the
combined Medi-Cal/Healthy Families Application. Individuals may also find a listing of local
Dental Service Providers in their area by visiting
www.ochealthinfo.com/mcah/dental.htm.
National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
National Aplastic Anemia Awareness Week 1-7
National Hand Washing Awareness Week 7-13
Congratulations to Robin Fontaine of Alcohol & Drug Abuse Services for receiving the Orange County Mental Health Board's (MHB) quarterly "Exemplary Service Award," which acknowledges staff who demonstrate a personal commitment to quality and serve as an example to others. In addition to the MHB award, Supervisor Chris Norby also presented Robin with a proclamation during a Mental Health Board meeting held on October 22nd.
Robin works in Evaluation and Treatment Services and at Royale Therapeutic Residential Community where she serves as a "linkage" to her clients. Robin identifies clients with dual diagnosis or alcohol/drug problems and helps link patients to the appropriate outpatient clinic or other community organization for assistance. She has also been an educator and presenter at the Annual Cultural Competency Conference.
Robin is acknowledged for her positive impact in alleviating suffering of mentally ill and dual diagnosis patients while advocating with compassion and kindness for each client she has worked with.
Hats off to Chongge Vang of HCA Health Promotion's Multi-Ethnic Education Services Program on receiving the Time Warner, Adelphia & International Channel Networks 2003 Vision in America Award. The award was presented to Chongge during the "We the People - A Celebration of Citizens" event held at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana on October 14th. Chongge was acknowledged for his positive outreach and contributions to the Asian population in Orange County, specifically the Hmong and Laotion communities.
Aside from his duties at HCA, Chongge also serves as President of the United Lao Movement for Democracy, where he assists Hmong and Laotion immigrants in becoming United States citizens and helps guide them in receiving proper healthcare and other social services support. Chongge also administered the Agency's 2003 Hmong Healthcare Survey, which can be accessed online at www.ochealthinfo.com/public/ethnic.
What's UP is a newsletter for employees of the County of Orange, CA, Health Care Agency.
Editors
Tricia Landquist
Howard Sutter
Anne Fialcowitz
Your Input Phone (714) 834-6644
E-mail TLandquist@hca.co.orange.ca.us
FAX (714) 834-7644 Pony Bldg. 38-S, 4th Floor
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