With compounding pharmacists facing a myriad of challenges, some spurred on by the lingering staffing and drug shortages of the COVID-19 pandemic, several ASHP Midyear 2022 Clinical Meeting & Exhibition sessions take on added importance. Selected presentations cover wide-ranging compounding topics, such as workload constraints, medication compliance, and safety concerns, including changes to USP guidance and approaches to reducing surface contamination risk.

Following is a listing of selected sessions taking place during the ASHP Midyear 2022 Clinical Meeting & Exhibition that cover current compounding topics:

Using an IV Chemotherapy Compounding Robot Within a Comprehensive Cancer Center (Management Case Study)
Sunday, December 4, 2022
The increasing demand for cancer care is outpacing the capacity of oncology treatment centers, resulting in significant treatment delays. The staffing and workload constraints further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in widespread pharmacist burnout across the country, along with severe labor shortages of chemotherapy infusion nurses and oncology pharmacy technicians. This case study describes the methods one cancer center implemented using an IV chemotherapy compounding robot to enhance cancer treatment capacity, mitigate the negative impacts of staffing shortages, and improve compounding accuracy to optimize safety.

Roundtable: Compounding Practice
Sunday, December 4, 2022
Planned discussion topics include revisions to USP Chapters <797> and <795>; innovative pharmacist and pharmacy technician compounding roles; mitigating drug shortages that affect compounding; and redundancies in compounding (e.g., people, product, place).

Roundtable: Nutrition Support and Sterile Compounding
Sunday, December 4, 2022
Discussion topics include strategies to develop a pipeline of nutrition support pharmacists; facilitating safe care transitions for patients receiving parenteral nutrition; implementing ASPEN’s 2022 guidelines for the provision of nutrition support therapy in the adult critically ill patient; and addressing gaps in compounding sterile preparations education.

Compounding Updates: NIOSH and USP Chapter Updates 2022
Sunday, December 4, 2022
This session will discuss recent changes to compounding guidance in the USP chapters and list updates to NIOSH guidance for 2022.

Optimizing Sterile Compounding Best Practices: Leveraging Technologies and Removing Barriers to Improve Safety
Monday, December 5, 2022

Sharp Objectives—Planning for Successful Sterile Compounding Renovations via a Centralized Dispensing Model (Management Case Study)
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Sterile compounding renovation planning is a complex process that requires focused effort, strategic considerations, and continued process improvement efforts. The purpose of this case study is to describe the methods utilized by a multihospital system to provide minimal disruption in the provision of patient medications while ensuring sterile compounding compliance, optimizing workflow, and leveraging current staff amid a technician shortage to maximize productivity.

Challenges Across the Parenteral Nutrition Continuum: Transcription, Compounding, Dispensing, Administration
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
This activity will provide an evaluation of the current state of parenteral nutrition focusing on the medication use process elements of transcription, compounding, dispensing, and administration. Particular attention will be given to overcoming clinical and technology-related medication safety challenges such as calcium phosphate solubility, solving the puzzles presented when components are on shortage, lipid sterility and stability, and centralizing operations.

Compounding Tips to Overcome Drug Administration Obstacles (Management Case Study)
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Commercially available medications may not always meet the individual needs of a patient. Some patient populations, such as pediatric or bariatric patients, may require compounded alternative dosage forms for treatment. Taste of the medication can also be a significant barrier to compliance. Medications may be compounded into suitable dosage forms to meet the needs of these patients and improve compliance. There are also methods and excipients that can significantly improve the taste of commercial products to also improve compliance with medications.

Surface Contamination Results Under USP <800>: Risk Approaches and Decision-Making
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
This session will summarize the USP recommendations regarding hazardous drug (HD) surface sampling; evaluate challenges to establishing HD surface sampling programs based on a review of recent literature and available resources; apply concepts of drug hazard characteristics and exposure toxicity risk to HD surface sampling result evaluation; and develop a strategy for HD surface sampling result analysis to reduce exposure risk.