Shenango Valley News

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This week, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), a member of the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Health, introduced the Safer Compounding in Hospitals Act, legislation which would establish a budget-neutral program within Medicare to incentivize the preparation and compounding of intravenous (IV) drugs for Medicare beneficiaries in the inpatient hospital setting.

The Safer Compounding in Hospitals Act will encourage the adoption of drug-compounding automation technology to help hospitals and health systems treating Medicare patients avoid costly medication errors and promote patient safety. Furthermore, this legislation will equip hospitals with onsite solutions to mitigate critical drug shortages that threaten to limit medical procedures and will help hospital pharmacies bridge gaps in their workforces.

"Too often, we hear about avoidable medication errors that put patients’ safety at risk. The Safer Compounding in Hospitals Act takes an important step toward easing burdens on pharmacy and hospital staff, ultimately leading to improvements in care and cost for patients," Rep. Kelly said. “I look forward to working with my fellow colleagues on bolstering our health care system through critical legislation such as this bill.”

The Safer Compounding in Hospitals Act is supported by the THRIV Coalition for IV Accuracy and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

"On behalf of the THRIV Coalition for IV Accuracy, we applaud the introduction of the Safer Compounding in Hospitals Act. This act would serve to harness proven technology to reduce medication errors in drug compounding," said Mark Neuenschwander, Founding Director of the THRIV Coalition. "As Congress considers this important legislation, the THRIV coalition stands ready to serve as a resource on policies that promote patient safety and medication quality."

"We thank you (Representative Kelly) for sponsoring this legislation, which would make it easier for hospitals to adopt automated IV drug compounding technology to promote patient safety, reduce avoidable medication errors, bolster hospital pharmacy workforces, and provide solutions in times of drug shortages," said Tom Kraus, Vice President of Government Relations for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

BACKGROUND

Traditional manual IV compounding techniques inevitably result in clinically significant errors, including incorrect ingredients and volumes, contamination, and mislabeling. The Medicare program can significantly reduce morbidity, mortality, and avoidable costs arising from medication errors by supporting hospitals in adopting innovative solutions for preparing and compounding IV drugs.

Modern technology for IV compounding automation can virtually eliminate errors associated with manual compounding techniques. In contrast to humans, IV automation excels at performing repetitive tasks without errors, performing precise “double-checks” to ensure accuracy, and minimizing the most common source of contamination (human hands) from the compounding process.