Library of Congress Selects ASHP.org for Historical Web Archive

From ASHP: 

The U.S. Library of Congress has selected ASHP's website for inclusion in the Library's web archive on public policy topics, citing ASHP.org as an important part of this collection and the historical record, ASHP announced on June 30. This archive is being built to document and preserve discussions of public policy issues from diverse points of view, including national political parties, think tanks, and a variety of advocacy organizations.

Important things happening with public policy as it relates to hospital and compounding pharmacies. IMI proudly supports the importance of diverse points of view in the pharmacy industry as it is critical to the industry's growth and performance. Very neat that it all has a place to live in the U.S. Library of Congress now! 

Women in Pharmacy Leadership Doing Big Things!

From ASHP: 

'Women in Pharmacy Leadership' Interview Features Powell

Mike F. Powell, executive director of pharmacy and nutrition services at Nebraska Medicine, describes in an interview the impetus for ASHP to focus on women in pharmacy leadership through a steering committee and his work in this area. The interview, conducted by Sara J. White, is one of six in ASHP's Women in Pharmacy Leadership Interview Series. All the interviews are available on demand or via iTunes.

Mentorships, Opportunities Create Perfect Career Path for One Pharmacy Leader

Jill Bates, a clinical pharmacy specialist in hematology–oncology and the residency program director for the PGY2 oncology residency at University of North Carolina Healthcare System, probably couldn't have imagined where she would wind up when she started her first career, as a high school science teacher. But key opportunities and pharmacy mentors along the way have allowed her to follow her passion and demonstrate how other women in the profession can lead the way to excellent patient care. Her story is described in InterSections as the second in a four-part series on women in pharmacy leadership.

Great progress with women's leadership in pharmacy. Check out their stories to learn more! 

Drugmakers Increasingly Interested In Using Patient-Reported Data.

Modern Healthcare (6/8, Kutscher, Subscription Publication) reports that “pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are increasingly interested in how patient-reported information can be used to get their products to market faster and assess how they perform in the real world.” For the first time, the Digital Health Summit “held its annual summer meeting alongside the larger” Biotechnology Industry Organization’s annual conference, where “familiar names in digital health were front and center.” 

Companies are using patient-reported information to create better, safer products. Digital health is quickly evolving and innovation is the way of the future! 

ASHP Launches Certificate Program in Sterile Compounding

ASHP on Tuesday announced the recent release of the Sterile Product Preparation Training and Certificate Program, the latest offering from the Professional Certificate line. The new online continuing education program provides pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with the knowledge and essential skills necessary for safe and effective sterile product preparation.

This is another great step for Sterile Compounding, using continuing education to help make the process as safe and effective as possible! 

WSJ Op-Ed Calls for Including Pharmacists on Patient Care Teams

From ASHP: 

A recent Wall Street Journal op-ed assessing ways to reduce medical errors in the United States strongly recommends including pharmacists on care teams. In "How to Make Hospitals Less Deadly," James B. Lieber notes that pharmacists' extensive knowledge of medications offers an important barrier to common medical errors. ASHP CEO Paul W. Abramowitz said the op-ed "is yet another call to include pharmacists on patient care teams in all settings."

Interesting information! What do you think? Should pharmacists be included on patient care teams in all settings? Certainly seems like it would help reduce medical errors and give the most complete patient care possible. 

ASHP Launches Standardize 4 Safety Initiative to Improve Medication Safety

ASHP Launches Standardize 4 Safety Initiative to Improve Medication Safety

ASHP on Tuesday announced the official launch of Standardize 4 Safety, a three-year FDA-funded project to create and promote national standard concentrations for intravenous (IV) and oral liquid medications. The launch marked the official release of the Standardize 4 Safety initiative information, including the first draft of the proposed concentrations for continuous IV infusions in adult patients.

Safer IVs and oral liquid medications paired with IMI's Tamper Evident technology will give you the ultimate peace of mind. With our products, you can rest assured that all of your medications will be as safe and secure as possible from beginning to end! 

Number of Female Pharmacists is Growing

Women Pharmacy Leaders Helping to Improve Practice

According to ASHP, Professional opportunities in direct patient care combined with flexible scheduling and six-figure salaries have drawn more and more women into the pharmacy profession. In 2014, more than 60% of pharmacy students were female and, among licensed pharmacists, women outnumbered men. In the first of a four-part series, ASHP's InterSections examines potential leadership challenges and opportunities for women pharmacists and ASHP's role in supporting new leaders.

Way to go, ladies!

Compounding Pharmacy Global Market Will Experience Robust Growth Through 2021

The global market for compounding pharmacies promises to continue to experience robust growth through 2021, according to a report by Persistence Market Research.1 The industry review, entitled “Global Market Study on Compounding Pharmacies,” projects compounding revenues to grow 6% annually over the six-year study period.

In 2015, the global market revenue totaled $6.8 billion. The research group expects that number to approach $9.8 billion by 2021, with stable growth across all world regions. What’s driving that increase? Drug shortages, a growing elderly population, demand for personalized medicines and pain medication.

• Drug shortages: Currently, more than 300 drugs are in short supply in the U.S., requiring hospitals and patients to rely on compounding pharmacies that can create equivalent products.2
• Growing elderly population: With more people reaching advanced age, and more societies valuing youthful looks, anti-aging products have also seen an increase in demand that is expected to continue. The use of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy for women, testosterone therapy for men, human growth hormone, and high-quality dermatological products are all rising. Many of these therapies are prepared primarily in compounding pharmacies.
• Demand for personalized medicine: Compounding enables providers to request a medication made to their specifications of ingredients and route of administration and precisely matched to the patient’s need. This personalization makes compounded formulations popular in many markets, but especially in those areas where broad distribution of standardized drugs is challenging.
• Pain medication: The largest therapeutic segment is expected to remain pain management.

Currently, North America dominates the global market, with Europe in second place. Going forward, Asia Pacific is projected to have the highest rate of growth, with much of the compounding demand originating in Australia and Singapore. Latin America has great opportunity for growth and demand is expected to continue to rise in Europe.

Currently, the Middle East and Africa account for a small share of the market. This is not anticipated to change significantly during the period covered, but to rise in time as infrastructure and the number of pharmacists increases.

Across the world, increased regulation and demand for standardization is transforming the compounding pharmacy market. North America and Europe lead this trend, but it has also affected Asia-Pacific, particularly Australia.

Are you seeing these global trends at your compounding pharmacy? How are you responding?

References

http://blog.pharmacyonesource.com/

1. Global Market Study on Compounding Pharmacies. Persistence Market Research. November 2015.
2. Global Compounding Pharmacies Market is Projected to Expand at a CAGR of 6% during the Forecast Period (2015-2021): Persistence Market Research. [Press release]. November 4, 2015.

Shifting Strategy, Roche Partners With Kite, J&J To Expand Cancer Drug’s Potential

Bloomberg News (3/23, Koch) reports that Roche “is opening the door to more external partnerships as its latest and most promising tumor-fighting treatment heads for approval this year.” In the past week, Roche has partnered with Kite Pharma Inc. and Johnson & Johnson “to explore combinations using its experimental drug atezolizumab.” The “partnerships with Kite and J&J mark a small shift in Roche’s strategy, which has emphasized using its own, large pool of potential compounds and medicines to find new cancer-drug combinations.” 

This is great news for cancer treatment progress. Try IMI's Chemo-Vent™ needles when reconstituting and withdrawing cytotoxic anti-neoplastic agents. We take pride in helping to supply the tools needed to save lives. 

Click here for more details. 

US Drug Spending For Insured Americans Rose By 5% In 2015 Specialty Medications Rise Almost 18%, Express Scripts Says.

The AP (3/14, Johnson) reports that “spending on prescription drugs for insured Americans rose about 5 percent last year,” according to a report by Express Scripts Holding Co. The AP points out, however, that “the increase was half the rate in 2014, which saw the biggest price jump since 2003.” Express Scripts projects that drug spending to increase between 6-8% each year between 2016 and 2018.

        STAT (3/14, Silverman) reports that “most of the increased spending was for specialty medications,” which rose almost 18%, “compared with a 0.1 percent drop for traditional drugs for chronic conditions, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.” Also covering the story are Reuters (3/14, Humer) and the NPR (3/14, Kodjak) “Shots” blog.

Please click here to visit our website at www.imiweb.com and see how IMI’s innovative sterile products can help you in with your all of your specialty medication compounding needs.

Compounded Sterile Preparations Can Be At Risk for Tampering and Misuse. IMI's Tamper Evident Caps are the Perfect Solution.

Compounded Sterile Preparations Can Be At Risk for Tampering and Misuse.

Compounded sterile preparations (CSP’s) are at their greatest risk when they leave the custody of the pharmacy. The IMI Prep-LockTamper Evident IV Syringe Cap greatly reduces the risk of the CSP being compromised either accidentally or intentionally. It insures that product integrity is maintained from the time it leaves the sterile hood until it is administered by an authorized clinician. 

Installation of the Prep-Lock Tamper Evident IV Syringe Cap in the pharmacy environment is highly efficient. Each sterile tray of 10 caps offers a unique “keyed” feature allowing the pharmacist the ability to quickly install the cap with a simple twist of the syringe. This helps to maintain aseptic technique and saves time when compounding several syringes at once.

Cap Installation is easy and efficient.

Administering a syringe is very easy for the authorized clinician. Simply pull-off the outer sleeve of the tamper evident cap, unscrew the remaining luer-lock cap and dispose of the components. This is a far better solution than sticky, brittle tamper evident tape or cumbersome shrink wrap.

A choice of 4 different colored caps allows the pharmacy the ability to color code either specific drug classes or processes.

For more information, visit www.imiweb.com.