Software Strategies
How an electronic system can make USP 797 easier
Variety of tasks are easier
Hospital pharmacists who have been using an electronic system to meet USP 797 standards say it makes it easier to be consistent and timely with a variety of tasks.
Here are some of the jobs where the new system has helped:
• Expiration dating: "Before we had the software, most of our tracking devices for expiration dating, tasks technicians have to do on a daily basis, like cleaning the machine or hood and temperature logs, were all done manually," says Geri Anderson, CPhT, BSBM, pharmacy technical services manager at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL.
The manual process involved looking at each individual item, writing it on paper, and keeping monthly records, Anderson explains.
"It was very time-consuming," she adds. "I'd have to transfer the information on a spreadsheet on my computer."
Now the USP 797 software, distributed as Simplifi 797 by Pharmacy OneSource Inc. of Bellevue, WA, does all of these tasks for Anderson.
"Each individual item they have to do during the day, the food-cleaning of refrigerators, cleaning of hoods and machines is all separate," Anderson says. "You check a box that the task is done, and the documentation is complete."
If the tasks aren't done by a specific time frame, then the electronic program sends the staff e-mail reminders that the task must be done before the end of the day, she adds.
Anderson can click on a report of these tasks and pull up the temperature log for an entire month for each of the pharmacy's eight refrigerators.
Under a paper system, a pharmacy manager would have to review lengthy paper logs to find out the temperature on a particular day, notes Peggy L. Toms, CPHT, RPHT, a pharmacy regulatory and quality analyst at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, VA.
"Now with four key strokes I can find it," Toms says. "It really validates what we do, and it's a quick, painless way to do it."
The other benefit is that it's easy to see who recorded the temperature and when trends occur.
"On any given day people switch schedules around," Toms explains. "So if questions come up because one refrigerator is out of range, we can go into the software to see what the temperature was that morning and how long it's been out of range."
• Task compliance: "When someone does not complete a scheduled task, the system will automatically e-mail supervisors and technicians working in that area that something has been missed in documentation," says Jim Roe, RPh, pharmacy supervisor with the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center in Greenville, SC.
"This ensures we're always in compliance," Roe adds. "The software automatically knows when the time is missed, and it automatically sends out an e-mail to technicians in that area, saying, 'You have not completed all of your tasks.'"
The automatic e-mail reminders save time and ensure complete documentation, says David Musa, MBA, RPh, assistant director in the department of pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison, WI.
"If workers haven't complied with a task then there are e-mails that go out to the area manager," Musa says. "Pharmacists follow-up and make sure the tasks are completed, so it forces your documentation to be complete."
• Batch processing: There is a batch processing module for pharmacies that need it.
"We have about 20 different products we batch for convenience," Anderson says. "So we enter the information in, pull up a product that needs to be compounded, enter information, check the information and product, and then sign off on it on the computer."
This process was done entirely on paper before the pharmacy switched to the electronic system, she adds.
The electronic documenting of batch processing ensures that there is complete documentation in the event of a problem, Roe says.
• Quality assurance: "We run a quality assurance program to make sure all our staff are adequately trained," Roe says. "We can identify staff that need additional training."
There are competencies required by USP 797, and these can be linked to the electronic system.
"The staff can see which competencies have to be accomplished that month," Roe explains. "Some of these are personal aseptic technique tests, personal hand-washing and garbing, automated compounding devices, etc."
• Staff education: "We have put all of our competencies on this software," Anderson says. "We have 11 different competencies that each technician has to do in a year, and we've loaded all of these in the system."
The technicians take one competency test per month, and their compliance is monitored through the software program, she adds.
"They log in, complete it, and it's sent back to me," Anderson says. "I check it on-line for a passing score."
The non-electronic version of this process was time-consuming, she notes.
"I'd have to remember when these were due and make sure each employee had a copy of the competency," Anderson says. "Now it's a much cleaner process."
The electronic program also has on-line manuals and references, which spell-out how to conduct specific tasks, Roe says.
"It tells staff how to clean and disinfect, how to glove and gown, how to store medications, how to do surface sampling, and how to record temperatures and humidity," Roe explains. "It saves tons of paperwork."
Hospital pharmacists who have been using an electronic system to meet USP 797 standards say it makes it easier to be consistent and timely with a variety of tasks.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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