IV ROOM
ASHP Midyear 2018: Initial Thoughts
I recently returned from the 2018 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting, i.e. “Midyear” in Anaheim, CA. This year was a bit different for me as it was the first time in many years that I attended the meeting as a regular pharmacist, i.e. not tied to a pharmacy automation company as an employee or as a […]
Posted in Pharmacy Practice | Tagged ASHP, IV ROOM, Patient Safety, Pharmacy Automation, Pharmacy Practice, RFID | Permalink | Leave a response
Building a sterile compounding space in California – Regulatory Hurdles
For almost a year, I’ve been working as a ‘Pharmacy Project Manager’ on a large healthcare system project to bring all their pharmacy sterile compounding spaces — a.k.a. Cleanrooms, SCA’s, C-SCA’s, etc. — into compliance with USP General Chapters <797> and <800>. Some areas have been remodeled while others have simply been scrapped in favor […]
Posted in Pharmacy Practice | Tagged IV ROOM, Pharmacy Practice, Regulation, USP 797, USP 800 | Permalink | Leave a response
Cool pharmacy cleanroom tech: Altro Whiterock
I’m sure you’re all familiar with USP <797> requirements for ceilings, wall, and floors in a pharmacy cleanroom, a.k.a. IV room. According to the current chapter: The surfaces of ceilings, walls, floors, fixtures, shelving, counters, and cabinets in the buffer area shall be smooth, impervious, free from cracks and crevices, and nonshedding, thereby promoting cleanability and […]
Posted in Pharmacy Practice | Tagged Cool Stuff, IV ROOM | Permalink | Leave a response
Mobile compounding units, a.k.a. sterile compounding trailers
Construction on pharmacy cleanrooms is at an all-time high in California. Every hospital I know is either renovating a sterile compounding area — cleanroom or SCA — or building a new one. Why? Because of USP General Chapter <800>, of course. Never have I seen so little cost so much. That little 19-page document has […]
Posted in Cool Technology, Pharmacy Practice | Tagged IV ROOM, Pharmacy Practice, Pharmacy Remodel, Pharmacy Technology, USP 800 | Permalink | Leave a response
Robots in the IV room, still not ready for prime time
I love pharmacy IV room workflow and technology, but I don’t get to talk about it much anymore. Most of my conversations these days are focused on IV room regulation, i.e. compliance with USP <797>/<800> and Board of Pharmacy rules. So you can imagine my surprise when two people approached me on two completely different […]
Posted in Pharmacy Informatics, Pharmacy Practice, Pharmacy Technology | Tagged IV ROOM, Pharmacy Automation, Pharmacy Technology, Robotics | Permalink | 6 Responses
USP Announces Intent to Postpone Official Date of USP Chapter <800>
In a notice posted last Friday, USP announced its intention to postpone the official date of USP Chapter <800> — Hazardous Drugs — Handling in Healthcare Settings. According to the notice: “The intent of this postponement is to align the official date of General Chapter <800> with the official date of the next revision of […]
Posted in Pharmacy Practice | Tagged IV ROOM, Pharmacy Practice, USP 800 | Permalink | 1 Response
Has adoption of IV Workflow Management Systems in hospital pharmacies slowed?
Pharmacy Purchasing & Products (PP&P) puts out a survey each year called The State of Pharmacy Automation (SOPA). The 2017 PP&P SOPA is out and available for your reading pleasure. The PP&P SOPA survey covers many automation, technology, and practice trends. One item that I look at each year with great interest is the reported […]
Posted in Pharmacy Technology | Tagged IV ROOM, Pharmacy Automation, Pharmacy Practice, Pharmacy Technology | Permalink
[Article] Evaluation of real-time data obtained from gravimetric preparation…
I am currently reading an article on the use of gravimetrics in the preparation of hazardous CSPs published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.* The article addresses data collected from a large-scale, retrospective analysis of medication errors identified during the preparation of antineoplastic drugs, aka chemotherapy. The paper looks at 759 060 doses […]
Posted in Pharmacy Practice | Tagged IV ROOM, Medication Errors, Pharmacy Practice | Permalink | Leave a response
Time to revisit gravimetrics in the IV room
Summary: if you’re preparing compounded sterile preparations (CSPs) in a pharmacy IV room, you should be using gravimetric analysis to determine the appropriate dose/volume. Pharmacy practice is easy. Our job is to provide the right drug, at the right dose, to the right patient in the safest, most efficient, cost-effective manner possible. Simple. Currently, the […]
Posted in Pharmacy Practice | Tagged IV ROOM, Pharmacy Practice | Permalink | 5 Responses