You are ready to go live with USP <800>—your Hazardous Drug List is complete, your Assessments of Risks are finalized, everyone has agreed on how you will handle these drugs and the PPE that will be worn, and policies have been updated. Your workgroup is ready to discuss how you will communicate to your healthcare team that this medication is hazardous and requires special handling precautions. There are several opportunities for communication to consider: auxiliary labels, transport bags, EHR comments, automated dispensing cabinet alerts, storage containers (including carousels and refrigerators), signs, and other drug information resources. The following list describes different discussions to have with your Information Technology (IT) team and work group on how to communicate that medication is hazardous.
SPEAKERS
Erika Lutz Thomas, M.B.A., B.S.Pharm., is the Director of the ASHP Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners. In this role, Ms. Thomas serves as staff liaison to the Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners Executive Committee. She also acts as an ASHP information resource and provides guidance to ASHP members on pharmacy practice in various inpatient care environments in hospitals and health systems, including medication safety, small and rural hospitals, compounding practice, and precepting for pharmacy practice experiences. She also serves as Co-Secretary to the ASHP Council on Education and Workforce Development.
Cindy Brasher is the Manager of Compounding at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. She completed Health Systems Pharmacy Administration PGY1/PGY2 residency program at Mission Hospital and MS in Pharmacy Administration through the University of North Carolina. She received her BS in Elementary Education from the University of Tennessee Martin and MA in Education from Cumberland University and taught elementary education for 7 years. After making a career change to pharmacy, she received her Pharm.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy. Currently, Cindy is serving on the ASHP SPPM Advisory Group on Compounding, ACCP Clinical Administration PRN (chair), and the UT Alumni Association Board of Governors. She focuses on regulator compliance and process improvement for sterile, nonsterile, and hazardous drugs.
Rosemary Duncan is a medication safety officer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is also the residency program director for the PGY2 Medication-Use Safety and Policy residency program. Her work involves investigating medication-related events and helping develop system changes that promote the safe use of medications within the hospital and health-system. She is the immediate past chair of the Maryland Society of Health System Pharmacy (MSHP) Medication Safety Subcommittee and an active member of the ASHP Medication Safety Section Advisory Group. In 2017 she was awarded the MSHP Jeffrey Ensor Emerging Leader Award, and in 2019 she and her colleagues were awarded the annual MSHP Medication Safety Award. Rosemary completed her PGY2 in medication safety at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and her PGY1 in community and ambulatory care pharmacy at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, where she also received her PharmD.