Pharmacy Purchasing & Products Magazine

Wipe Analysis

July 2019 : Hazardous Drug Handling - Vol.16 No. 7 - Page #14

Wipe analysis serves to quantify the effect of the improvements made along the journey to USP <800> compliance. The results also identify when additional efforts are needed. While the direction of wipe analysis utilization is positive, the pace of adoption is glacial. It is quite telling, however, that most of those facilities experienced with wipe analysis are quickly increasing the frequency at which they conduct these tests for HD residue. A variety of vendors offer reliable test kits, providing pharmacy directors with an array of options as to which drugs to test for and how quickly to receive results. Without wipe analysis data, facilities are at a significant disadvantage to understand their state of HD contamination.

Just over one-quarter of facilities currently conduct wipe analysis for HD residue, an incremental improvement over 2012’s numbers. Notably, facilities with 200+ beds are twice as likely to take advantage of this technology versus their smaller counterparts.

Currently, pharmacy tends to focus wipe analysis efforts on the area immediately surrounding compounding activities. It is strongly recommended that wipe analysis be expanded to areas where HDs are stored and administered. Measuring HD residue on storage shelves and within the cleanroom refrigerator will quantify whether products are arriving in the pharmacy with contamination on the packaging while also clarifying the effectiveness of the wipe down process during restocking. Wipe analysis results on the units can be leveraged to improve nursing’s practices and PPE use during HD administration.

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Historically, many facilities conducted wipe analysis one time only or annually at best. As users recognize the benefits of wipe analysis, there is a strong move to increasing the frequency at which it is conducted. Just over half of facilities (52%) now incorporate regular wipe analysis as part of their HD monitoring practices.

With the exception of 101-200 bed facilities that typically conduct wipe analysis on an annual basis, all other size facilities conducing wipe analysis are most likely to do so on a semiannual basis.

As facilities look to adopt wipe analysis, ChemoGlo and BD lead the vendors currently under consideration. The “Other” category represents some facilities that plan to rely on their certifier to conduct wipe sampling or utilize fluoroscein dye and solution testing, rather than true wipe sampling, to monitor staff competency with HD compounding.

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