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Ongoing threats to the safety of intravenous (IV) drug delivery include drug shortages and lack of IV product standardization, according to an expert panel...The panel of health care providers developed recommendations...The findings...were published in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

The panel’s findings include:

1. The panel believes in the overall superiority of manufacturer ready-to-use products, and says they are the safest IV drug delivery systems, followed by outsourced, ready-to-use, pharmacy compounded, point-of-care activated, and nonpharmacy compounded at point of care.
2. Drug shortages and lack of standardization are the 2 most significant threats to IV drug safety.
3. Variations in IV medication concentrations during transitions of care within the same institution or between different facilities can increase the likelihood of a medication error, leading the panel to identify lack of standardization as a major threat to safety.
4. Manufacturer-prepared products are the safest IV drug delivery system, and manufacturer-prepared, ready-to-administer products are preferred for patient use whenever possible...
5. Specialized education, training, certification, and competency with regard to compounding of sterile preparations should be required for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other involved health care providers...
6. A legislative and regulatory framework that supports and encourages IV medication safety in all settings (such as physician offices) should be developed…READ MORE

It’s no secret that healthcare is in a state of rapid shifts—it has been for a long time, and it shows no sign of slowing in its evolution—and pharmacy is no exception. From independents to big box to large chains to hospitals, every pharmacist is going to feel (and is already feeling) significant changes...Perhaps the greatest shift in recent years, however, has come from chains. Changes in chains affect not only the pharmacists working in those chains, but show how pharmacy as a whole is evolving...READ MORE

A 340B advocacy group is imploring congressional allies to ensure House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug prices plan won’t prevent hospitals from getting discounts under the program...The hospital industry-backed advocacy group 340B Health sent a letter to the House Energy & Commerce Committee...extolling the virtues of the program. The letter comes after the release of Pelosi’s Lower Drug Costs Act, which would call for the Department of Health and Human Services secretary to select at least 25 drugs a year to negotiate for a lower price...Currently, the legislative text says that for each year that a negotiated price is applied that drug shall “not be considered a covered outpatient drug subject to an agreement under … 340B.”...READ MORE

Dennis Killian, PharmD, PhD, Director of Pharmacy Services, Peninsula Regional Medical Center, Salisbury, MD, discusses techniques to optimize the use of IV robotics in a hospital pharmacy setting. (video)

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law last month new legislation that allows pharmacists in the state to initiate and dispense HIV medication without a prescription. The law, SB159, was amended to say that “a pharmacist may initiate and furnish HIV preexposure prophylaxis” and “a pharmacist may initiate and furnish HIV postexposure prophylaxis.” Previously, only pharmacists in specific collaborative practice agreements were able to dispense the drugs independently.In order to dispense either preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), pharmacists will need to complete a boardapproved training program, according to the law...READ MORE

Disparity found in analysis of practice data from CCGs (clinical commissioning groups) using First Databank’s prescribing decision tool...Drug and medical device knowledge company First Databank is urging GP practices to standardise their approaches to routine testing and monitoring of drugs, after its data revealed variance in compliance across key safety indicators for drug prescriptions...figures from analysis of...usage in 2018/2019 “suggest the need for prescribers to increase essential routine testing of clinical markers for patient harm from medications, and for more robust recording of test results into the primary care clinical system.”...READ MORE

The state of Florida is partnering with the Military Health System to share prescription drug data to help providers in the state combat the risk of prescription drug misuse and abuse among the military population...the MHS prescription drug monitoring program began sharing the prescription drug data and analytics with 39 databases throughout the U.S., with the goal of enabling data-sharing among all 54 PDMPs across the country...Healthcare providers in Florida now have access to controlled substance prescription data from military health providers and facilities...READ MORE

Blink Health, a digital health company, is getting into the holiday spirit by offering new patients more than 4,000 medications for free...“Prescription drug prices are simply too high for too many people. We have all heard the tragic stories of people having to decide between taking their medications and eating, or cutting pills in half to save money — that’s simply not acceptable...” Geoff Chaiken, Blink Health CEO said. “...we’re focused on fixing that problem by putting the interests of patients first — not large corporations.”...New patients who sign up and order their first prescription through Blink Health will be provided with a credit of up to $10 off their first order, which covers many of the most popular prescription drugs available through Blink Health...READ MORE

One of the current problems with intraoperative resuscitation is the lack of organization...The “Perioperative Pharmacy Attendance for Intraoperative Codes” safety initiative attempts to tackle this problem by addressing the role of “medication procurement, compounding, and time recording.” Pharmacists can quickly assess and provide dosing recommendations...Pharmacist attendance also allows anesthesia professionals to perform alternative tasks during a code, as they are usually responsible for running the code. The anesthesia team and nursing staff can more efficiently procure equipment and supplies because the pharmacy team is now responsible for obtaining the medications...READ MORE

A shortage of a versatile medicine used to treat immune disorders and other diseases has forced U.S. hospitals and infusion clinics to suspend treatment for many patients... many hospitals and infusion clinics have received less immune globulin, or IG, than they need. Some have started to ration it, prioritizing it for patients who need it to stay alive and canceling infusions for patients deemed to have non-life-threatening conditions. The shortage has gotten to an acute status...READ MORE