← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
The Role of Robotics in IV Compounding to Enhance Patient Safety with Dr. Kevin Davis
00:12:12
Loading summary
Transcript21 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hi everyone, this is Erica Spicer Mason with Becker's Healthcare. Thank you so much for tuning into the Becker's Healthcare podcast series. So today we're going to talk about the role of robotics in IV compounding to enhance patient safety. And joining me for this important discussion is Dr. Kevin Davis, Pharmacy Operations Manager at Baptist Health. Dr. Davis, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here today.
- [00:26]
B
Yes, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.
- [00:29]
A
Yeah, we're thrilled to have you with us. And just to get us started here, can you share just a little bit more about yourself and your work in healthcare? Whatever you think would be helpful for our audience to know?
- [00:40]
B
Okay, absolutely. I am the Pharmacy Operations Manager at Baptist Medical center here in Jacksonville, Florida. Our pharmacy also serves the Wolfson Children's Hospital on our campus. We are part of Baptist Health, which is the area's only faith based, mission driven, locally governed system. I have been a pharmacy leader for about 10 years with a focus on patient safety, people management and pharmaceutical supply chain, including drug shortage management. I've also been fortunate to be part of implementing new technologies to support advancing pharmaceutical care for our patients.
- [01:14]
A
Fantastic. Dr. Davis, great to learn more about you. I wanted to start our conversation off on a little bit of a high level note because I think pharmacy operations, perhaps compared to other areas of clinical care, maybe those challenges or opportunities that you experience on a day to day basis aren't as visible to people. So I wanted to just kind of get your take first as demands on your teams are evolving. What are you seeing as some of the biggest challenges that hospitals face today when it comes to maintaining patient safety and especially within pharmacy ops?
- [01:50]
B
Yes, a few of the challenges that come to mind when it comes to patient safety, especially within the pharmacy setting. One being drug shortages and maintaining supply chain resiliency. So in my relatively short career, just about every possible supply or medication has been impacted by back orders ranging from antibiotics to opioids to IV fluids, which was a recent one and everything in between. To me, this has displayed how critical it is to have redundancy within the supply chain and minimize medication waste. Another challenge that comes to mind are staffing concerns and ensuring appropriately trained and competent staff. Especially when it comes to sterile compounding within pharmacy, it takes time and resources to train and develop your team. Sterile compounding requires a unique skill set, including an elevated need for attention to detail while maintaining safety, sterility and efficiency at all times. Another challenge that really has impacted us is change management. So keeping up with new patient care needs like providing the latest specialized therapies, keeping up with regulatory changes, including updates to USP 797. And in a growing health system, being able to keep up with additional responsibilities and patient needs while ensuring the safety is of utmost importance as well. So those are a few challenges that come to mind.
- [03:14]
A
Yeah, it's a really helpful overview. Thanks, Dr. Davis. And I know at the heart of so many of those challenges you touched on, whether it's drug shortages, needing redundancy in the supply chain, staffing concerns, change management. I feel like efficiency is really at the heart of a lot of those issues. And there's been this growing interest in the role of technology in advancing pharmacy care and operations. So what innovations or trends are you most excited about when it comes to making medication preparation both safer and more efficient?
- [03:45]
B
When it comes to medication preparation, I'm excited about the advancement of automation, including robotics in medication dispensing and preparation. So we know that anytime we can reduce the risk of human error, it's a huge win for patient safety. One example historically that we're all aware of was the implementation of barcode medication administration. So within the pharmacy space, there's also been increasing adoption of barcode scanning, image capturing, gravimetric verification within the medication compounding process. So that's been a fairly new thing that we've been able to see there. So these safety features have been integral to IV workflow solutions within pharmacy. I have personally seen a significant impact to implementing these technologies as well. Traditionally, these features have been intertwined with manual workflows, so it could still be at risk for workarounds and for human error. So the development of automation, including robotics, within pharmacy processes is exciting because it can help eliminate some of the risks that may present that.
- [04:49]
A
Yeah. So interesting. And Dr. Davis, can you share any maybe specific examples or outcomes that you've seen from embracing technology or automation here?
- [05:00]
B
Yes. I've been fortunate to be able to.
- [05:02]
C
Implement new technologies within my career to help advance pharmaceutical care. One example recently is Omnicell's IV compounding service, which includes the IVX Station. So the IVX Station is an IV compounding robot that leverages barcode scanning, image capturing, and gravimetric verification for each sterile preparation. The IV compounding service allows for the health system to leverage Omnicell resources to manage and service the robotic technology and to tap into their drug formulary, analytics and overall program expertise. So in our case here at Baptist, supporting a children's hospital makes the safety aspects of having a robotic program even more valuable. Additionally, being able to in source Unique pediatric compounds that are not always readily available from the outsourced market is critical. So this technology has allowed us to reduce reliance on 503B compounding pharmacies. So many of you will be familiar with 503B compounding pharmacies, and they have been critical to support hospital operations. But having the ability to insource those medications ensures that your patients will have those essential medications in their times of need. So over the last 10 years that I've experienced, there have been frequent disruptions to availability of outsourced medications, including complete shutdowns of compounding pharmacies, to pauses in production, and oftentimes abrupt discontinuous continuation of medications that may be available. And to that point, anytime that you have a sole source for a product that you're at risk for not having that medication when it's needed in a critical situation. One thing that I would recommend is building redundancy within the supply chain by having the ability to quickly pivot between insourcing and outsourcing. So not working to eliminate Your reliance on 503B compounding pharmacies per se, but giving yourself more flexibility and self reliance. So this helps minimize medication stock outs, disruptions of workflow, and added workload to our compounding staff. Another positive outcome of having an IV robotics program is the impact on workload for our pharmacy technicians involved in the sterile compounding process. So we talked about staffing challenges previously. So the ability to produce thousands of preparations a week through the robotic program significantly decreases the workload demands from our team, allowing them to focus on all the other responsibilities that they do have.
- [07:40]
A
Yeah. Dr. Davis, it's so interesting to hear how a pro program like this can touch on some of those supply chain issues, but also impact staff and their day to day work as well, and their workload. And I imagine that translates into workplace satisfaction and, and retention down the line as well. So yeah, I just want to share my appreciation for you highlighting some of those outcomes. And as you're looking ahead, you know, for those health systems who may be evaluating robotics for IV compounding, or they're thinking about it, or they're trying to improve their program, what are the key considerations from your point of view or early steps that can really help them be set up for success?
- [08:23]
B
Yes. So robotics, it's a fairly new frontier for a lot of folks to go down. So there's a lot of new things to consider that folks may not be considering when they're initially going through that process of evaluating robotics within the pharmacy space and Especially within sterile compounding. So I would recommend that health systems start by evaluating their current compounding needs, including both in sourced and outsourced products that they're currently utilizing. Having a detailed understanding of the volume.
- [08:53]
C
The cost and the time required for.
- [08:55]
B
These products within your health system will help support decision making so you have a better understanding and a full picture of what your current needs are. I would also recommend considering all of the benefits that are provided by having robotics. So we've been fortunate thus far to have a positive return on investment strictly from a financial standpoint. But that's not the end all be all. So even if that wasn't the case for us, the added benefits of enhanced safety, sterility, accuracy and supply chain resiliency makes it a worthwhile investment. Additionally, understanding the regulatory environment for using IV robotics is essential. So again, this is a new frontier, not only for staff using robotics, but also for regulators in this space. And this is an evolving space, especially with new 797 guidelines and other federal and state policies to consider. And all in all, the vision for your robotics program may be impacted by your own space and facility considerations beyond use date restraints, sterility tests, and the turnaround time in regards to the lab work that's required to extend the dating on certain products. So there's several things that go into this and it's important to think about when you're considering robotics. And finally, just keeping in mind that advancements in robotics are happening rapidly. As robotics begin to scale, the crowdsourcing and network effect become stronger. So for example, we have been able to be a part of validating new products and protocols that other systems can then benefit from, and vice versa. As things get added by other health systems, we can have the benefit of being able to potentially utilize those protocols.
- [10:45]
C
That can be run on the IVX station.
- [10:48]
A
Yeah. Dr. Davis, I want to thank you for outlining so clearly some of those key next steps or consideration for folks who are in that consideration phase of robotics and IV compounding. It sounds like there's a lot to consider, but at the same time, so many opportunities that can come out of it in terms of clinical outcomes, capacity for staff, operational efficiency and supply chain. So thank you again for all the insights you've shared with our audience. Before I let you go, is there anything we didn't cover or any final thoughts you'd like to share?
- [11:18]
B
My final thoughts would be to challenge healthcare leaders to continue investing in advancing technology within our space. Healthcare has historically lagged adopting new technologies, but we must continue innovating to optimize patient care within our unique environments. We'll continue facing challenges like drug shortages and staffing concerns, but it's important that we make ourselves as resilient as possible to overcome these obstacles and maintain patient care and continue to improve technologies.
- [11:48]
A
Great words and thoughts to end on. Dr. Davis, I want to thank you again for your time and your insights. Thanks for being with Beckers today.
- [11:55]
B
Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.
- [11:57]
A
And of course, we'd also like to thank our podcast sponsor for today's episode. Omnicel Listeners, you can tune into more podcasts from Becker's Healthcare by visiting our podcast page at beckershospitalreview. Com.