Fact Sheet

Pharmacists at the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network provide care in a variety of settings:

• Ambulatory clinics
• Emergency department
• Inpatient central operations
• Inpatient decentralized
• Outpatient infusion clinic
• Outpatient oncology clinics
• Outpatient retail, home infusion and specialty
• Perioperative

Other services include:

• Center for medication use
• Stewardship programs
  • Antimicrobial 
  • Anticoagulation
  • Pain
• Investigational drug services
• Pharmacy informatics

Outpatient Pharmacy Services

Froedtert Health Pharmacy Solutions (FHPS)

FHPS focuses on outpatient pharmacy services including retail, specialty, home infusion, and includes a full-service PBM.

Froedtert Pharmacy Retail Services

• Froedtert Pharmacies provide services Monday through Friday with certain locations offering Saturday hours and the 92nd Street location operating 365 days a year.
• There are 12 retail pharmacy locations and 1 remote dispensing site with plans to expand locations in FY23.
• The three discharge pharmacies located within Froedtert Hospital, Froedtert Menomonee Falls Hospital, and Froedtert West Bend Hospital are accredited by Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP), allowing Medicare Part B Billing for approved DME products with additional locations being approved for billing Medicare Part B medications.
• Pharmacy staff working in the Froedtert Pharmacy Retail Stores are responsible for:
  • Prescription data entry, claims adjudication, medication profile review, assessment for clinical appropriateness, identification of interactions or possible adverse events, collaborating with interdisciplinary team members, product dispensing, final product verification, cash handling and point-of-sale transactions, counseling patients on prescription and over-the-counter medications
  • Fulfill duties outlined in the Clinical Pharmacist Practice Service and Medication Distribution and Control as applicable
  • Support patients through challenges in receiving their medications by utilizing available resources, such as patient assistance programs, prior authorizations, Froedtert Rx Savings Plan, approved interchange polices, and programs, such as the Drug Repository Program, Diabetic Smart Start and Discount Programs, etc
  • Per Wisconsin State Law, pharmacists are required to counsel on new prescriptions, when therapy changes are made, when requested by the patient or patient agent or when the pharmacist deems necessary.
  • Additional services available include Medication Therapy Management, Immunizations, Quality Interventions, Enhanced Refill Processing, and the Froedtert Rx App to assist patients in managing their medications

Froedtert Pharmacy Home Delivery & Specialty Services

Home Delivery

• Froedtert Pharmacy offers Home Delivery to seven states for no additional charge to patients.
• Before sending out any medications, the pharmacy staff proactively call patients to confirm their order, preventing missed doses and minimizing unwanted medication from being sent.

Specialty

• The Froedtert Pharmacy Specialty team manages high cost, often chronic medications used by our patients in and outside of our hospitals or clinics and touches a variety of areas within our health system and is URAC accredited. Each month a pharmacist reviews the patient’s medical record to ensure their medications are appropriate and accurate.
• The Medication Access Team (MAT) is imbedded with the specialty pharmacy service line and perform the following duties:
  • Acquire prior authorizations for specialty medications infused, administered, or dispensed at any of the Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin campuses, health centers, or Froedtert Pharmacies
  • Obtain medication and/or financial assistance for patients who are uninsured or unable to afford their specialty medication
  • Collaborate with social work, case management and financial counselors to ensure patient access to affordable medications
  • Review of pending Medicare write-offs to correct potential billing errors to maximize reimbursement

Froedtert Pharmacy Home Infusion Services

• Provides safe and effective option for patients to receive therapy via intravenous or other non-oral routes from the comfort of their own home or infusion suite.
• The Home Infusion team includes registered nurses and pharmacists and coverage spans the state of Wisconsin.
• Home Infusion is accredited by the Joint Commission for home care services and is a certified Medicare provider for DME.

Ambulatory Clinics

Pharmacists are integrated into both primary care and specialty clinics across the Froedtert Health enterprise. Primary care pharmacists cover over 30 primary care clinics and specialty clinic pharmacists support over 10 specialty areas. The ambulatory pharmacy department also comprises of the Anticoagulation Clinics (a multi-disciplinary team of pharmacists, nurses and pharmacy technicians) and the pharmacist-led Anemia Clinic. Ambulatory clinic pharmacists provide care to patients with a variety of chronic conditions through the use of Collaborative Practice Agreements with physicians. Ambulatory pharmacy care is delivered to patients through office and virtual visits as well as telephone encounters. In addition to direct provider referrals, ambulatory pharmacists work with nurses and medical assistants on enterprise-wide population management initiatives focused on a variety of disease states such as diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, COPD/asthma, and HIV PrEP. Ambulatory pharmacists at Froedtert work closely with the pharmacy technician prior authorization team, as well as pharmacists within the Froedtert Health retail and specialty pharmacies to ensure patient access to medications.

Ambulatory care clinics with pharmacist services include: Anemia, Anticoagulation, Behavioral Health, Cardiology, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Geriatrics, GI/Hepatology, Infectious Diseases, Infusion Clinic, Metabolic Syndromes, Neurology, Oncology, Primary Care, Pulmonary Clinic, Rheumatology, and Solid Organ Transplant.

Central Pharmacies and Sterile Products Compounding

The central pharmacies are staffed 24 hours a day, and use advanced technology to fill inpatient medication orders efficiently and safely. Froedtert central pharmacies use the latest prescription fulfillment technology that use barcode scanning at multiple points in the process to ensure accuracy in dispensing and inventory management.

Pharmacists in central pharmacies are responsible for ensuring the proper preparation of intravenous medications and verification of medication selection. Tech-check-tech and barcode-check-tech processes have been implemented for automated dispensing cabinet replenishment as well as first dose replenishment. Sterile products are compounded in multiple USP 800 compliant IV preparation rooms throughout the system. Photo capture technology is used as part of product checking in order to further improve safety.

Chemotherapy and supportive medications are prepared in the Cancer Center Pharmacy for inpatient and outpatient hematology/oncology areas. In 2020, a compounding robot was implemented at Froedtert Cancer Center Pharmacy to compound chemotherapy doses in order to improve accuracy and minimize potential for staff exposure to hazardous medications during compounding.

Decentralized Pharmacy Teams (Inpatient Pharmacists)

Pharmacists are an important part of the specialized inpatient care teams who provide comprehensive clinical services and patient education in the acute care setting. Pharmacists on inpatient teams participate in daily multidisciplinary and patient care rounds, verify physician orders, provide therapeutic drug monitoring, respond to medical emergencies (codes), conduct patient medication histories, perform medication reconciliation and provide discharge counseling. Medication Access Specialists are specialized pharmacy technicians who support pharmacists by assisting with admission medication histories and discharge planning.

Decentralized pharmacy teams support all care areas which include Hematology/Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplant, Neurology and Neurosurgical Intensive Care, Surgery and Surgical Intensive Care, Adult Internal Medicine and Medical Intensive Care, Cardiology and Cardiovascular Intensive Care, Solid Organ Transplant, Orthopedics, Inpatient Rehabilitation, the Emergency Department and the Operating Room.

Center for Medication Use

The Center for Medication Use team promotes the safe, effective and fiscally responsible use of medications across the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin System. Core functions include maintaining a system-aligned formulary, continual monitoring of medication use patterns, vigilance of safe medication use, oversight of medication guidelines, protocols, collaborative practice agreements and clinical pathways, and development and maintenance of infusion pump libraries, drug information resources and communication tools. The Center also has specialized teams in the areas of anticoagulation, antimicrobial and pain stewardship to promote the safe and effective use of these agents.

Pharmacy Informatics

Froedtert uses Epic to house its electronic health records across its hospital, ambulatory clinic and outpatient pharmacy locations. The Pharmacy Informatics and Epic Willow teams manage, implement, and design automation and technology including the electronic health record, distributive technologies, and ancillary programs across the Froedtert and the Medical College enterprise. The team is primarily responsible for Epic Willow Inpatient application, Epic Willow Ambulatory application, medication related ancillaryspil application and medication related reporting and training of pharmacy staff.

Teaching and Precepting

The Froedtert Pharmacy Department partners with the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy, Concordia University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy and University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy as a training site for experiential education. Froedtert Health offers a wide-variety of introductory and advanced practice experiences, including our Student Scholars program where P4 students complete the majority of their advanced pharmacy practice experiences at either Froedtert Hospital or Froedtert Menomonee Falls Hospital.

There are many opportunities for pharmacists and residents to teach, precept and mentor pharmacy students. Froedtert & MCW health network offers practice sites for faculty members from both the Medical College of Wisconsin Pharmacy School and Concordia University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy.

Awards and Recognitions

• 2022 ASHP Foundation Pharmacy Resident Research Grant
  Recipients: Justin Grahl, PGY1 Resident, William Peppard, Senior Investigator
  Study Title: Pharmacogentic Evaluation of Hospitalized Patients Requiring Naloxone Administration
• 2015 ASHP Best Practice Award
  Expanding Pharmacy Practice through the Utilization of Longitudinal Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Students
• 2013 ASHP Best Practice Award
  Institutional and Patient Benefits of a Comprehensive Medication Prior Authorization Service
• 2011 ASHP Best Practice Award
  Project PRIMED (Pharmacist Reconciliation and Medication Education at Discharge)
• 2007 ASHP Best Practice Award
  Improving Patient Safety through Implementation of a Pharmacy Conducted Admission Medication History and Multidisciplinary Discharge Medication Reconciliation Process

We offer the excitement of working at an academic medical center, where teaching and research are integral to patient care. Clinical pharmacists are important members of the team, teaching medical residents, pharmacy students and pharmacy residents. If you are interested in using your skills, growing, learning and being part of an exceptional pharmacy team, we invite you to apply to one of our pharmacy residency programs!

Learn More About Froedtert & MCW Health Network