PHARMACY PURCHASING & PRODUCTS FEATURES BAXA RAPID-FILL™ ASF IN PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
In its March 2007 issue, Pharmacy Purchasing & Products featured the Rapid-Fill Automated Syringe Filler (ASF) from Baxa. The article is a case study written by Christopher Kutza, PharmD, Pharmacy Manager at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois.

In the article, Kutza describes the efficiencies achieved by his pharmacy with the implementation of the Rapid-Fill System for sterile syringe filling.

Advocate Lutheran General uses the Rapid-Fill System to prepare (fill, cap and label) unit-of-use sterile syringes. This process, which previously required 4 to 5 hours, now takes only about a half hour, allowing their technician to focus on other tasks.

As with all of the products prepared in their cleanroom, Advocate performs quality assurance tests on syringes prepared by the Rapid-Fill. The pharmacy also performs basic maintenance to ensure accuracy and regular cleaning to comply with USP <797>.

Kutza notes that his pharmacy is evaluating other applications for the Rapid-Fill System that would mean transferring an additional 50,000 to 60,000 syringes from a primarily manual process to one automated by the Rapid-Fill ASF. They are looking into bar-coding technology to begin bar-coded medication administration. The Rapid-Fill System’s labeling technology provides bar-coded labels.

To view the full article, please visit www.pppmag.com, or for copies of the article return the enclosed business reply card. For more information about the Rapid-Fill System, visit www.baxa.com/rapidfill.