As we reflect on the first full year since USP <800> became enforceable in early 2023, it's clear that compliance has been both a challenge and a learning opportunity for healthcare facilities nationwide. The initial inspections revealed that even well-prepared organizations discovered areas requiring additional attention and refinement in their hazardous drug safety protocols.

Founder of USP <800> Compliance, Healthcare Worker, Patient Safety Technology Provider Recognized for Thought Leadership Excellence  

It seems that you can't turn on the news without hearing about the next wave of COVID-19 that will soon travel across the U.S. Numbers are rising across the nation and there is again a great focus on the capacity of hospital systems to diagnose and treat sick patients, as well as maintain capacity for everyday operations outside of coronavirus care. 

While much of the discussion is on the ability to care for the increase in patients, we can't help but focus on the safety of healthcare workers as well. 

A shocking 8 million U.S. healthcare workers are potentially exposed to hazardous drugs (HDs) each year according to the CDC. In fact, a report in Pharmacy Times states, “compared with any other occupational setting, the health care setting uses the largest and most diverse array of agents that are hazardous to humans.” Not only are they exposed to a variety of hazardous agents every day, the effects may be compounded over the decades of their career.

Rpharmy is raising the bar in USP 800 compliance with Rhazdrugs, a searchable hazardous drugs database accessible at the point of care improving visibility, frontline healthcare staff safety, and compliance with regulations including USP 800.

Online marketing 101 – if it takes someone more than three clicks to get somewhere, you’re going to lose a sale. After owning a SaaS-based company for more than 15 years, I wholeheartedly concur. But the stakes are much higher when those extra clicks compromise the safety of patients and their caregivers.

I recently wrote an article on my blog called, “Custom Software is a Bad Idea.” This came out of conversations where we were discussing the differences between custom software and configured software. Custom Software describes a situation where a company would have custom software engineering done for their specific needs. Configured software describes software that is setup for a company’s operations via a user interface, not via code, and often by the customer themselves. Rpharmy's software is considered configured because our customers can update information in the app such as drugs stocked by the hospital pharmacy, related information such as black box warnings, and information needed for handling hazardous drugs, etc., but there is no customer software written for a specific hospital customer.