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Epic will eventually control IV workflow management

By Jerry Fahrni on June 26, 2021

Pulling another article from the notebook archive, penned March 20, 2020. I have seen the future of IV workflow management systems (IVWFMS). Spoiler alert, EPIC wins. And before people start calling me an Epic fanboy, I should make it clear that I do not like Epic, as a company or a product. I believe healthcare […]

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Pharmacy – Relying on 503Bs is a mistake

By Jerry Fahrni on April 3, 2021

What’s a 503B FDA outsourcing facility? Well, just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship…. just kidding, it’s what popped into my head when I started writing, but we really should define what a 503B is. The 503B […]

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The impact of COVID-19 on Pharmacy Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

By Jerry Fahrni on March 22, 2020

COVID-19 has taught us many things, among them that our healthcare supply chain is poorly designed and flimsy. Just a few weeks into the pandemic and our supply chain for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been completely disrupted. PPE is now in short supply, and I suspect that we will run out of PPE in […]

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Today’s sterile compounding climate is a lesson on availability cascades

By Jerry Fahrni on July 13, 2019

I’ve been slowly reading ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’, a best-selling book by Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winning psychologist and economist known for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making.  The book summarizes behavioral science research conducted by Kahneman. The recurring theme of the book is what the author defines as two modes […]

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ASHP Midyear 2018: Initial Thoughts

By Jerry Fahrni on December 16, 2018

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 […]

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Building a sterile compounding space in California – Regulatory Hurdles

By Jerry Fahrni on August 12, 2018

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 […]

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Cool pharmacy cleanroom tech: Altro Whiterock

By Jerry Fahrni on August 5, 2018

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 […]

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Mobile compounding units, a.k.a. sterile compounding trailers

By Jerry Fahrni on July 28, 2018

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 […]

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Robots in the IV room, still not ready for prime time

By Jerry Fahrni on July 22, 2018

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 […]

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USP Announces Intent to Postpone Official Date of USP Chapter <800>

By Jerry Fahrni on October 3, 2017

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 […]

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