Learn how staff at CureMed Pharmacy in Clifton, New Jersey, meet state requirements for sterile compounding with help from Primex OneVue Sense Differential Pressure Sensors. Proving compliance is made easy due to on-demand report generation from the OneVue software platform.
Since compounding pharmacists frequently work with exposed and raw-form drug materials, a compounding room that has negative air pressure is often required by state healthcare boards and recommended by the United States Pharmacopeia to keep hazardous gases, odors, and compounds out of surrounding areas.
Known as USP <797> and USP <800>, these two standards outline safe practices for handling hazardous drugs to prevent cross-contamination with nonhazardous drugs and hazardous drugs from harming patients and healthcare workers.
CureMed Pharmacy in Clifton, New Jersey, follows USP <800> and a state-amended but similar-to-the-original version of USP <797>, both of which are enforced under New Jersey state requirements. To help with meeting these requirements, staff members within CureMed Pharmacy utilize Primex OneVue Sense™ automated monitoring technology.
“To keep up with all of our accreditations, we have to make sure to keep our services under appropriate standards at all times,” said Ghada Abukuwaik, president and head pharmacist at CureMed Pharmacy. “In our compounding room, under USP <800>, we have to make sure our staff and hazardous materials are within a safe environment. That is why we use a Primex Differential Pressure Sensor.”
Introduction to Primex and Compounding Room Compliance
After talking with Primex representatives at pharmacy trade shows and speaking with peers about how efficiency-boosting Primex technology can be, Abukuwaik spoke with her team about the benefits of Primex automated monitoring. Leaders at the pharmacy decided to install the differential pressure sensors to help protect both staff and patients from hazardous materials, keep medications accurate, and follow regulatory standards.
“In New Jersey, we have to keep the compounding room in a negative pressure state of .01 to .03 inches [of water column],” Abukuwaik said. “This negative pressure is vital — along with wearing PPE and using the fume hood — to keep hazardous materials away from staff and ensure we keep a high standard of hazardous compounding.”
