Becker's ASC Review

10 Executive Briefing: Executive Briefing: Outsourced Compounded Sterile Products for ASCs However, that can be difficult. Drug shortages are one of the big- gest issues for healthcare providers, especially in the outpatient setting. Traditionally, drug companies have stocked hospitals first — especially with drugs on a shortage — and surgery centers sometimes were left without. ASC providers could either locate al- ternative drugs or cancel procedures; neither scenario was ideal. Other times, a single-use vial might contain more drug than is necessary for a single patient's episode of care, leaving the sur- gery center to dispose of the extra drug instead of using it for an- other patient. "PharMEDium's Outsourcing Facilities can prepare two doses of 5 mL instead of one dose of 10 mL when the patient only needs 5 mL. We can also prepare larger batches to optimize drug use for the ASC," says Mr. Kruzynski. PharMEDium's preparation labeling includes numerous safety fea- tures and barcoding to help reduce medication errors. The labels and barcodes make the contents readily apparent to help minimize the likelihood of the wrong drug or dosage being administered. PharMEDium products offer extended dating up to 90 days to maximize drug supply. Real-time stability testing, specific to drug manufacturer, concentration, fill volume, container and diluents, ensures clinical effectiveness through the labeled expiration date. Sterility is ensured through process validation, sterile closure in- tegrity testing and ongoing preparation testing allowing provid- ers to be confident in the sterility and stability of PharMEDium's preparations. "We've seen situations where there are as many as 60 different drug therapies being administered to a patient. These include pa- tient-controlled analgesia, epidurals, sedatives, electrolytes and antibiotics. The reality is that various drugs would be mixed by the hospital pharmacy, but now our customers look to us to supple- ment their resource needs," says Mr. Kruzynski. "Our teams com- pound drugs so that the hospital's clinicians can focus on direct patient care." Among pharmacists, there is a trend for more pharmacy gradu- ates to pursue PharmDs to become clinical experts. Their exper- tise goes beyond just mixing drugs and preparing orders in the pharmacy, they often join clinical care teams to work side-by-side with physicians and nurses to develop appropriate therapies for their patients. "When you look at how the drugs are prepared and administered in surgery centers, it looks easy," says Mr. Kruzynski. People don't realize how long it takes to mix everything together to make a compounded drug and if there is a syringe, cap or label, there is the possibility for error. Working with an outsourcing facility helps to mitigate these inefficiencies. Working with an outsourcing facility like PharMEDium also elim- inates the constant ordering and updating for new drugs. After working with customers for a while, PharMEDium can identify pat- terns for how a healthcare provider orders specific drugs allowing them to take proactive steps to help minimize the impact of a drug or container shortage. The added value of working with an outsourcing facility includes: • Improve reliability of drug supply • Help reduce drug waste • Help minimize medication errors • Increased compliance with drug preparation regulations • Improve convenience of drug administration • Reduce labor burden associated with drug prep • Reduce administrative burden of tracking medication PharMEDium prefilled syringes ship with a tamper evident cap, MEDGUARD. This capping system provides an increased level of confidence that the product remains sterile until the cap seal is broken. PharMEDium provides sterile compounded preparations to hos- pital pharmacies and ASCs as an extension of their sterile prepa- ration for IV and epidural therapy requirements, using FDA-ap- proved sterile drugs and sterile containers. PharMEDium helps meet the demands placed on hospitals and ASCs to ensure pa- tients receive their medications on time and as prescribed. It is the company's mission to be the preeminent provider of choice for our customers and to attain the highest degree of integrity in the compounding of sterile preparations. n "There is a lot of crossover between surgeons and anesthesiologists between [the inpatient and outpatient] setting. They want to use the same products and processes in the outpatient setting as they do in the inpatient setting to ensure consistent quality care." — Rich Kruzynski, president of PharMEDium PharMEDium is the leading provider of pharmacy-outsourced, ready to use compounded sterile preparations. PharMEDium helps to: mitigate medication supply issues, enhance patient safety efforts, reduce drug waste and simplify regulatory compli- ance. Founded in 2003, PharMEDium serves nearly 3,000 hos- pitals and outpatient surgery centers through our state-of-the-art 503B Registered Outsourcing Facilities.

• Cover