Evaluation Background: Pharmacy IV Compounding Workflow Systems

Here's background for our Evaluations of pharmacy IV compounding workflow systems, outlining the key considerations for making wise purchasing decisions. We present our product ratings and review how the technology is used, what factors we test for, and ECRI's data describing hospitals' interest in each vendor.

Pharmacy IV workflow systems are intended to aid in safe preparation of compounded sterile products (CSPs) by standardizing workflow and by providing documentation (e.g., images) of compounding steps.

To be considered in this clinical category, a system must have:

1. Bar-code scanning, which is used for verification of each ingredient used...