Health system pharmacy leaders are well aware of the risks of patient harm posed by IV medication errors. Accordingly, ensuring comprehensive safety in the preparation and administration of IV medications is not simplistic, and requires a multi-pronged risk mitigation strategy.

Vital to this strategy is leveraging automation wherever possible, and the options continue to expand. From IV compounding robots that prepare HD doses in a completely contained environment to IV workflow systems that reduce the risk of utilizing the wrong ingredient or producing the wrong concentration, these automated systems reduce human error as well as human workload.

This concept is further extended to the use of interoperable smart pumps that enable direct communication of complex orders from the EHR, averting the need for risky manual programming, and utilization of RFID tagged IV bags that simplify OR processing and billing. These safeguards continue to grow and develop.

Admittedly rapid adoptions are not always feasible, nevertheless, pharmacy should seek the latest technology in the effort to provide the best patient care possible. Health care practitioners rarely have the luxury of waiting for cutting edge technology to filter down to all practice segments, mainly because patients cannot wait. When new technologies create a significant improvement in patient care, we cannot ask patients to wait for years to reap the benefits.

With this in mind, it is incumbent upon pharmacy leadership to remain abreast of the latest developments and continue to make the case for adopting the latest technology solutions. This supplement contains some key steps to take, and we encourage you to share your stories of IV safety success.

All the best,

R. Mitchell Halvorsen

Publisher