CureMed Compounding Pharmacy

Compounding Pharmacy Uses Automated Monitoring to Create a Regulated, Safe Environment

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.”

To help prove that high standard, the Primex Differential Pressure Sensors play an integral role in keeping CureMed Pharmacy compliant with regulations from the New Jersey Health Department and the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy. With on-demand reporting capabilities at their fingertips — thanks to the OneVue® web-based software — the team at CureMed Pharmacy has total peace of mind knowing that Primex technology helps to prove compliance during audits and inspections.

“When the health department and board of pharmacy visit for inspections, the first thing they check every time is our compounding room’s pressure,” Abukuwaik said. “All we have to do is show them the report data from OneVue, and then they know that we are taking care of not only the USP standards but also the safety of our staff and patients. OneVue makes audits and inspections easy and smooth.”

Increased Focus on Patient Care and Following the Mission Statement

In addition to the OneVue Sense Differential Pressure Sensors, CureMed Pharmacy also enjoys the benefits of OneVue Sense Temperature Sensors. Before having Primex automated monitoring technology, staff at CureMed Pharmacy used a manual data logging system that required the weekly and sometimes daily downloading of refrigerated asset temperature data. This time-consuming task took staff away from providing patient care, like diabetes and weight loss education, and made practicing under their pharmacy’s mission more difficult.

“Our mission is to treat with respect and care, provide quality services, and impact wellness,” Abukuwaik said. “We also want to make a positive difference in people’s lives by providing cutting-edge knowledge and a commitment to excellence by serving with honesty and integrity.”

Staff members have taken advantage of around-the-clock automated temperature monitoring inside refrigerators that hold vaccines, medications, monoclonal antibodies, insulin, and other temperature-sensitive assets. Gone is the need to manually log temperature data, as the sensors send continuous data to the easy-to-access OneVue software platform. CureMed pharmacists have also felt at ease knowing that they’d get a real-time alert for any out-of-range measurement that the sensors detect.

“Knowing we have a reliable solution in place to monitor our critical vaccines and medications is invaluable,” Abukuwaik said. “Even when we close for the night and go home — knowing that we’d get an alert immediately about a temperature excursion is invaluable. It helps us prevent anything bad happening to our vaccines or medications.”

CureMed Pharmacy also utilizes OneVue Sense Indoor Air Quality Sensors throughout the pharmacy and in the compounding room to better manage and regulate ambient air temperature and humidity. These IAQ sensors add an extra layer of safety to medication dispensing and creation, helping to protect from expiration and cross-contamination.

“Having temperature and humidity sensors in the pharmacy itself and having one in the compounding room helps make sure all medications and hazardous materials alike are safe and being handled according to the proper standards,” Abukuwaik said.

Determining Priorities with Primex

Leaders at CureMed Pharmacy view Primex automated monitoring solutions as an extension of their team and vital to their operations. All three types of OneVue Sense sensors help safeguard valuables and ensure a proper environment in which to create and dispense medications and best serve patients. If other pharmacies — compounding or not — are looking to optimize their facility, CureMed Pharmacy would recommend Primex to help them do so.

“I would advise other pharmacies to think about their priorities,” Abukuwaik said. “For us, it is so important to ensure patients have access to their healthcare needs. Using Primex automated monitoring helps us provide for them. We let our professional pharmacists focus on patient care while a professional company, Primex, handles the temperature and environmental monitoring.”

Results

  • Primex OneVue Sense Differential Pressure Sensors help keep staff safe from hazardous materials and make for easy compliance during audits and inspections at one New Jersey compounding pharmacy
  • Primex OneVue Sense Temperature Sensors, like all sensors within the OneVue Sense portfolio, provide peace of mind with real-time alerts for out-of-range conditions that help protect valuable vaccines, medications, and environments
  • The OneVue software platform helps eliminate time-consuming manual temperature logging by keeping detailed, continuous logs of environmental data and offering on-demand report generation
  • Probe replacements and technical support are available to pharmacy staff through a Primex OneVue Sense Service and Support Plan
  • Primex OneVue Sense solutions as a whole give pharmacy staff more time to provide care, education, and resources to their patients
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