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GHS automates sterile IV compounding

A new pharmacy is equipped with two automated compounding systems that serve the South Carolina health system’s five locations, improving patient safety as well as internal productivity and efficiency.

RIVA, an automated compounding system from Intelligent Hospital Systems, prepares IV bags 50 mL to 1,000 mL, and can also prepare low-concentration dilution bags for pediatric dosing.
RIVA, an automated compounding system from Intelligent Hospital Systems, prepares IV bags 50 mL to 1,000 mL, and can also prepare low-concentration dilution bags for pediatric dosing.

Late last year, Becker’s Hospital Review published “The Future of Medicine: 6 New Technologies Transforming the Field.” The technologies included 3D printing, artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, robotics, electronic diagnoses and patient-physician interaction technologies. These cutting-edge technologies aim to allow for quicker, better diagnoses, and more effective patient treatment.

It’s understandable that such developments capture mainstream media attention, but cutting-edge hospital technologies also exist behind the scenes to benefit hospitals and patients. Take, for example, Greenville Health System (GHS), where the five-location South Carolina business is building a 3,500-square foot compounding center to house two new RIVA systems from Intelligent Hospital Systems.

The self-contained equipment, located in a cleanroom, automatically compounds IV syringes or bags for improved patient safety, productivity and efficiency.

“In all candor, the Greenville Health System already has a reputation for using cutting-edge technology,” says Richard Capps, GHS pharmacy manager. “With the RIVA systems, we have again embraced that philosophy, which fits into our efforts to seek a safer, better way of doing things to improve patient care. Our first priority is always quality; cost is important but secondary.”

Capps, however, won’t label the substantial investment in the RIVA systems as futuristic. “I wouldn’t use that term because to me it’s the here and now,” he says. “To me this is how we ought to be doing it today.”

Thom Doherty, chief technology officer of IH Systems and one of RIVA’s inventors, says there are approximately 35 installations of the RIVA system worldwide, with most of them in the U.S. The first system was installed commercially at an Orange County, CA, pediatric hospital in late 2008.

According to the company’s website, “RIVA, a fully automated IV compounding system, is a [Class II] medical device…used by hospital pharmacies to automatically and accurately prepare IV syringes and bags. By automating the preparation of IV syringes and bags, RIVA addresses the issues of safety for the patient and the pharmacy technician, efficiency and effectiveness in the pharmacy, and the challenges of a changing regulatory environment.

“RIVA allows hospital pharmacies to compound aseptic preparations in a USP <797> compliant environment while outputting admixtures in either syringes or bags. The automation of repetitive and complex tasks reduces the incidence of errors and contamination. RIVA can prepare both chemotherapeutic and non-chemotherapeutic doses.”

GHS pushes for automation, safety

At its five locations, GHS has some 1,200 beds total, providing patients with everything from acute to long-term care, and caring for patient populations with unique needs, including pediatrics and oncology.

Capps explains that the GHS central pharmacy is open 24/7. Currently, the pharmacy’s compounding operations are completed manually on-site or outsourced. Bringing much of the process in-house with RIVA was appealing in that it would give GHS control of the process, address patient safety issues and improve internal processes.

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