IV robotics and workflow preparation technology is critical to the advancement of patient safety and accuracy in IV compounding. But while the need is widely recognized, barriers to adoption – including tight budgets, bandwidth constraints, and lack of regulations or requirements – continue to persist.
Industry leaders, patient safety advocates, and policy activists gathered in Pittsburgh last month for the IV TRUST Summit – an exclusive event intended to further the adoption of IV automation to improve the safety, accuracy, and availability of sterile compounds. Among those leading the charge is Mark Neuenschwander.
No stranger to patient safety advocacy, Neuenschwander has spent more than three decades promoting development and deployment of medication safety technologies. His work to drive adoption of bar code medication administration (BCMA) changed point of care practice and has been honored by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
Neuenschwander has now shifted focus to a new area of patient care safety – IV compounding. As founding director of the THRIV Coalition for IV Accuracy, he is rallying healthcare stakeholders to promote universal adoption and consistent utilization of workflow management systems and robotics to support safety and accuracy in IV preparations. “I formed the THRIV Coalition to champion bar code IV preparation technologies just as we had with administration technologies,” Neuenschwander said during his presentation.
The Coalition has developed the THRIV 5, a checklist of minimum criteria for pharmacy leaders to consider when planning for adoption of IV compounding technology.
Workflow Management Software – designed to guide compounders and/or robotics step-by-step through IV “recipes” with forcing functions to drive accuracy at each step of the process
Bar Code Scanning – processes designed as a forcing function to ensure all components are the correct ingredients
Volume Verification – employing a variety of tools, including in-process image capture, gravimetrics, volumetrics, and optical volume recognition, to verify volumes of base solutions and additives are correct
Auto Labeling – for scanning at the point of administration, produced only after all the steps have been verified as having been accurately fulfilled
Auto Documentation – recording and time-stamping each step of the preparation to support accuracy throughout the process
THRIV champions the universal adoption and consistent utilization of IV workflow management systems through advocacy and outreach to healthcare providers, while also working with other industry advocates, government entities, and accrediting bodies to drive compelling standards and compliance, recognizing the criteria outlined in the Coalition’s checklist. The hope is, that similar to the journey to BCMA, the industry will move from voluntary utilization to requiring the technology.
“I believe that we’ve had some really good robotic development but in terms of adopting and in terms of refining, I think we are just entering the golden age,” Neuenschwander said.
“There are compelling benefits to doing things robotically – eliminating opportunities for error, reducing risk of product contamination, and preventing harm to techs or the preparer,” he continued. “We need to persist in telling the story.”
Watch the full presentation here and visit www.thrivcoalition.org to download the full checklist and learn more about how you can join advocacy efforts.
