Optimize Oral Chemotherapy Management

• October 2019 : Cleanrooms & Compounding
• Kirollos S. Hanna, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP

Oral chemotherapy agents (OCAs) have significantly altered the provision of cancer therapy, allowing cancer to be managed as a chronic condition within the patient’s home. Despite the established place of these drugs in the care continuum, managing oral oncolytics requires unique strategies compared with infusion therapies, including timely coordination among oncology providers, clinical... Read more

• Read Article
• View Digital Edition

Safe Parenteral Nutrition Management

• October 2019
• Joseph Boullata, PharmD, RPh, CNS-S, FASPEN, FACN

Q&A with Joseph I. Boullata, PharmD, RPh, CNS-S, FASPEN, FACN Pharmacy Specialist Clinical Nutrition Support Services The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA   PP&P: What risks are associated with parenteral nutrition? Joseph I. Boullata, PharmD, RPh, CNS-S, FASPEN, FACN: Although parenteral nutrition (PN) is commonly considered simply a nutritional product,... Read more

• Read Article
• View Digital Edition

Cold Chain Distribution for Specialty Pharmacy

• October 2019
• Michael Li, PharmD Candidate
• Nicholas P. Gazda, PharmD, MS, BCPS
• Molly Schneider, PharmD, MHA, CSP

Specialty pharmacy encompasses the management, handling, and distribution of high-cost, high-risk medications that are often used to treat rare and complex disease states. Implementing specialty pharmacy programs can allow health systems to provide more comprehensive, integrated care to patients and reduce fragmentation in the health care system.1,2 In order to provide best-practice services... Read more

• Read Article
• View Digital Edition

Use a Refractometer to Validate Narcotic Waste

• October 2019
• Nicholas Helbling, PharmD, BCPS

Identifying and preventing diversion are critical responsibilities of every health system. Ascertaining whether controlled substance waste has been tampered with is a particularly effective method of detecting possible diversion. Adopting a refractometer to reveal tampering is a useful strategy to enhance a facility’s diversion prevention efforts. Essentia Health is an integrated health system... Read more

• Read Article
• View Digital Edition

IV Workflow Management

• State of Pharmacy Automation 2019

While pharmacy’s commitment to automating IV workflow is on the upswing, just 26% of facilities have adopted this technology to date. The past 2 years have seen implementation rates jump by 20% and 14% respectively and a similar level of activity is predicted for the coming year. It is important to note that most of these adoptions have been concentrated in facilities with 200+ beds. Looking... Read more

• Read Article
• View Digital Edition