Health Care Administration

All non-clinical areas and issues of the Health Care Unit fall under Health Care Administration. This includes, but is not limited to, budgeting, personnel, administrative oversight of all contracts, and contract employees. The Health Care Administration unit deals with all of the administrative paperwork and documentation that is necessary to fulfill its role, comply with other agency requests, and to justify the activities and costs associated with them. It is the sole point of contact for inter-agency requests for information and from the public and inmate population.

Pharmacy

RIDOC maintains a contract with CPS (Contract Pharmacy Services), an out-of-state pharmacy which specializes in provision of prescription drugs to correctional facilities in the U.S. Inmate prescriptions are transmitted to CPS by doctors and nurses through the use of an electronic pharmacy order system. Medications in blister packs are flown to the state by a commercial carrier, picked up at the airport by a courier, and delivered to each facility six days a week. A licensed nurse receives the package and drugs are then inventoried and placed in the medication room in each dispensary. Medications are then distributed to the inmate population either through a medication distribution procedure or inmates may be allowed to self-administered their medications.

In-state backup pharmacy services are provided by local pharmacies. If a drug must be obtained quickly, the local pharmacy delivers to the door of the facility. Each dispensary also maintains stock medications which can be utilized.

Over-the-counter medications can be obtained from the Inmate Store or may be ordered by the physician and administered by the nursing staff.

Professional pharmacy consultant services are provided by pharmacists from the URI College of Pharmacy. Their services include continuous monitoring of CPS services for quality control, destruction of unused medications, and consultation services for all licensed health care providers at the DOC. A URI pharmacist participates in the Pharmacy Review Committee and works with the Administrator of Health Care Services to monitor utilization and develop strategies for cost-savings.