Another year has flown by. Unbelievably, we are quickly approaching 2023 and it’s time to look back at of the biggest topics of 2022.
Every year is full of actionable headlines to consider as well as challenges to overcome. Our goal is to help our clients successfully navigate the important issues of the ever-changing healthcare landscape. Below is a summary of the top topics that generated the most questions and interest in 2022.
Addressing Shortages of Sterile Water for Injection and Sodium Chloride 0.9% for Injection
Drugs shortages continued to plague us in 2022. We started off the year with shortages of normal saline and sterile water for injection. Very few drug shortages have such a widespread impact on patient care as this one. This has such a broad impact because of how widely used these products are. It’s important to keep safe injection practices and patient safety in the forefront of your planning when handling these shortages. There are many tempting ideas, like using a large bag of normal saline as the source of flushes for multiple patients. For several reasons, this is a dangerous idea and should not be done.
How to Avoid Antibiotic Stewardship Deficiencies
In March, we discussed best practices on how to avoid antibiotic stewardship deficiencies. Does your facility have a comprehensive program in place as part of the overall infection control program? Do you have a staff member who develops and oversees your program? How is your pharmacy consultant helping you? Your pharmacy consultant can help you avoid antibiotic stewardship deficiencies and sail smoothly through your next survey. Does your consultant pharmacist provide guidance on infection control? They should, and in this post, we discussed some of the ways your pharmacy consultant can make your patients safer and your surveys easier.
Are you ready to comply with USP Chapters 797 and 800?
When was the last time you had a full assessment done to determine your level of compliance? With the upcoming implementation of the new USP Chapter 797, there are some big changes. Additionally, USP Chapter 800 will also become enforceable. Do you know what you need to do to keep your patients and staff safe? Are you ready for the implementation?
Victor Alves Presenting at the NYSAASC Spring Conference
Late in the spring of 2022, I had the pleasure and the honor of presenting “Medication Management 101 and 201: The Basic and the Advanced” at the New York State Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers Spring Conference. My talk focused on the basics of safe medication management, as well as more advanced concepts. I also addressed the most common survey issues and provide practical tips for improving patient safety and survey success.
DEA Electronic Forms
As of May 11, 2022, whether you are registering for the first time, or renewing an existing DEA registration, you will need to do so though the secure online portal. Paper forms have been eliminated to make the process more efficient and effective. Are you opening a facility and looking to obtain a new registration, or do you have an existing registration that needs to be renewed? In this post we help you prepare for the DEA’s new requirements.
Preview the New Medications of 2022
Preview the new medications of 2022, as we reach the halfway point of the year. Each year at roughly midway through the year, we provide an update on what medications have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is constantly reviewing and approving new medications and the number of medications approved in recent years has drastically increased. Keeping up with all the changes is a full-time job. In this post, we looked at the most recent approvals to keep you informed and help keep your patients safe.
Does an ASC need a pharmacy consultant?
The short answer is, YES! In this post we discussed why it is important for a facility to work with an expert pharmacy consultant. There are many reasons why you need the guidance of a pharmacy consultant as part of your organization. For example, medication management, patient safety, regulatory compliance, survey readiness, benchmarking studies, and cost savings, to name a few. For those of you who routinely read my posts, you know I address current trends in medication management and other healthcare news impacting patient safety and regulatory compliance. I also write many posts to answer frequently asked questions. Although I sometimes get asked about the benefits of working with a pharmacy consultant, I don’t often get asked if one is needed. That changed recently…I have received several calls from facilities who have been advised by accrediting agencies to hire a consultant pharmacist. In turn, the facilities want to know if it’s something they really need. In this post I addressed the main reasons every facility should work with an expert pharmacy consultant.
The 2022 version of the OctariusRx medication safety quiz is about to be released.
Ongoing education and assessments of staff medication management competency are standards of good practice. Medication competency and your consultant pharmacist are two things that should go hand-in-hand. How are you assessing your staff? Use our tool to help enhance patient safety and satisfy the regulatory requirement. In this post, we previewed our medication safety quiz, which is always pertinent and timely.
How much does compliance cost?
How much compliance costs is tricky to calculate, but there are multiple examples of organizations who have paid millions of dollars in fines from regulatory agencies, and/or medical malpractice lawsuits. Of course, there are many other ways facilities lose money because of poor practices, lack of oversight and expertise. What are some steps you can take to make your patients safer and greatly reduce your liability and costs? This post addressed some common compliance issues and steps you can take to reduce liability for your organization.
Summary
This is just a small sampling of the items we discussed in 2022. Although it highlights the most talked about topics, there are many other posts you should go back and review. It’s never too late to make improvements.
If you need additional information on any of these topics, please read the original post or reach out to us. We are always happy to point you in the right direction. We help our clients by guiding them on safe medication management, helping increase patient safety and survey success.
The Consultant Pharmacists at OctariusRx provide guidance on safe medication management, survey readiness and cost savings to ambulatory healthcare facilities/surgery centers, senior care facilities and pharmacies. We also help individual patients optimize their medications to improve their quality of life and save money. Contact us for assistance.