Survey Methodology
Complying with the multiple, and often conflicting, regulations guiding pharmaceutical waste management is clearly a significant challenge for health-system pharmacists. Often current practices are based on old habits, rather than best practices. Compliance is also complicated by decades-old regulations that have not kept up with an-ever changing pharmacy environment.

The first step to improving pharmaceutical waste management is examining current practices. To do this, in the third quarter of 2008, PP&P polled a random, nationwide sampling of health-system directors of pharmacy. Responses were solicited via e-mail and a total of 205 were received, yielding a confidence interval of 6.71% (95% +/-6.71%), based on the total population of pharmacy directors nationwide. Respondents represent a cross-section of hospital pharmacy practitioners.

Just as the EPA is now looking to define current practices in waste management, PP&P undertook this survey to identify common practices and highlight some of the areas in need of improvement within pharmaceutical waste management.