Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/1316512
B uying commonly used medications in premixed, pre- labeled and pre- filled syringes should be a no-brainer, right? You'd think so, but ready-to-use syringes are more expensive than traditional medication vials, caus- ing some facilities to avoid stock- ing the costlier of two options that seemingly serve the same purpose. Look past the initial upfront cost, however, and you'll see prefilled syringes limit waste, increase patient safety and improve overall case efficiencies. Ready with the right amount Single-use prefilled syringes come prepackaged in commonly admin- istered doses, meaning providers administer the correct amount of medication without having to waste leftover supplies after cases. Additionally, anesthesia providers must always be pre- pared with a host of emergency medications. If a patient with a slow heart rate needs to be emer- gently treated, providers need to have atropine readily available — not in a vial, not in the drawer — and ready to go. "If that medica- tion was in a vial, I'd have to draw it up, put it in a syringe and label it, and it would be good only for an hour," says James Abernathy III, MD, MPH, an associate professor and division chief of cardiac anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. "If it's in an unopened prefilled syringe, I can leave the syringe on my cart in case it's needed. If it's not needed, it won't expire." As a result, there's much less medication waste when prefilled syringes are used, which helps justify their cost. Joyce Wahr, MD, FAHA, vice chair of quality and safety for the department of anesthesiology at the University of Minnesota M Health Fairview, also 6 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 The Perks of Prefilled Syringes Predrawn meds are a convenient, safe and economical option. Danielle Bouchat-Friedman | Associate Editor GRAB AND GO Anesthesia providers who have access to predrawn medications can focus more of their attention on direct patient care. Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation