This year has seen impressive gains in hazardous drug (HD) handling protocols to protect staff, with both Designated Persons (DPs) and HD SOPs in place at the vast majority of facilities. And yet, there is still work to do. Because the USP chapters are not guidelines, but minimum standards, once the chapter requirements are implemented in their entirety it is then time to plan for exceeding the requirements to achieve best practice.

Key to this process is having the DP establish target goals for each year. For 2025, consider establishing a wipe analysis program, conducting regular spill drills, and implementing an automated IV workflow system to ensure that compounded sterile products (CSPs) are protected by the same automation currently leveraged to deliver oral solids safely to patients.

The Designated Person’s commitment to conducting an annual review of all HD SOPs continues to improve with 86% of all facilities taking this approach. This commitment holds true across all facility sizes.

The task of creating a job description for the Designated Person role is an entrenched challenge for most; however, there was some improvement this year and progress & continues to trend upward, albeit slowly. Notably, the largest facilities have had more success in this endeavor, with 46% of those facilities with 400+ beds having such a description on file. Nevertheless, 61% of facilities overall have yet to create this job description.