Approved Hospital Formulary
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Approved Hospital Formulary
8/31/22 dh Introducing Rhazdrugs
September 15, 2022
From: "Donna Huggins" <donna.huggins@hhsys.org>
To: "Pharmacy Department" <grp_pharmacy@hhsys.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2022 3:35:09 PM
Subject: Introducing Rhazdrugs
To: "Pharmacy Department" <grp_pharmacy@hhsys.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2022 3:35:09 PM
Subject: Introducing Rhazdrugs
Introducing Rhazdrugs
USP General Chapter <800> outlines standards for the safe handling of hazardous drugs. These standards include responsibilities of personnel handling hazardous drugs; facility and engineering controls; procedures for deactivating, decontaminating and cleaning; spill control; and documentation. The goal is to reduce exposure risk for healthcare personnel and patients while also protecting the environment.
We have a new web-based platform, Rhazdrugs, that contains our hazardous medication list along with all USP <800> and NIOSH compliance requirements that are associated with the different NIOSH categories. Rhazdrugs provides monthly updates to hazardous drug handling guidelines as NIOSH and USP <800> release new information. The Rhazdrugs site can be accessed both through Cerner and FormWeb. The attached document outlines an overview of accessing and navigating some of the key features.
USP <800> requires that we address each stage of the medication management process from receipt of the hazardous medication in Pharmacy trough the administration by Nursing and eventual disposal. Each of these required elements has a dedicated tab in Rhazdrugs with visual graphs that summarize the appropriate PPE to be worn. There are active links to the sourced information, including FormWeb and SDS sites. Our required assessments of risk have been uploaded where they can be easily accessed and updated on an annual basis.
We would invite you to explore this site and become familiar with its contents. We are starting with an introduction to Pharmacy staff. Nursing education will begin when some additional alerts are available in Cerner.
Now that we have the information summarized in an accessible format, we are transitioning to staff education of operational practices in the multiple inpatient and outpatient pharmacy areas. Since the information is quite extensive, we are planning a phased approach of introducing 2 sections per month over the next several months. We will start with SOPs related to receiving and storage of hazardous medications in September. As we educate these sections, you can refer to the correlating sections in Rhazdrugs as a quick reference. You are only responsible for the information in each Rhazdrug section AFTER the practice has been implemented in the functional areas.
The first competency CBL for receiving has been added to NetLearning - E-PH6440822 USP Chapter 800 Procedures. Please complete this by September 15, 2022.
We have the flexibility to customize Rhazdrugs with additional information and would welcome your thoughts as you utilize this new platform.