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technicians with special training in the preparation of
admixtures.
Although the policy of petitioners' hospitals is not to fill
prescriptions for patients after they are discharged from the
hospital, on occasion a hospital will do so in a situation of
extreme hardship, as, for example, when the medication is not
readily available at a commercial pharmacy. The price charged to
a patient for filling a discharge prescription is not the same as
the charge posted on a patient bill when administered at the
hospital, and the charge is not included on the patient's
hospital bill. The pharmacy also occasionally sells
pharmaceutical products to employees and staff physicians at
acquisition cost plus an administration fee. The hospital
generally records cash sales of drugs and medicines to employees
in an account entitled "retail pharmacy". The pharmacy
department does not sell or otherwise provide pharmacy items to
the general public.
Purchasing decisions regarding pharmaceuticals are made at
the individual hospital level by employees of the hospital, based
on formularies established by a hospital committee composed
primarily of staff physicians.
Medical Records Department
Each hospital maintains a medical records department that
stores and retrieves each patient's medical record. Such record
reflects, through contemporaneous recordations by the attending
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