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2011 Napa Pain Conference Video
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 | Get a glimpse into this year's 18th Annual Napa Pain Conference through this brief recap video provided by Hartley Medical.
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CONGRATULATIONS!
to Dr. Michael Gofeld, Gail McGlothlen,
Wendy Doerning, and Gary Taylor
Winners of Hartley Medical's 2011 Napa Pain Conference Wine Raffle
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IN THE NEWS!
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Army seeks standards for pain management
Beyond morphine: New findings suggest maximizing a soldier's functional ability improves quality of life.
By MARC HELLERTIMES WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011
WASHINGTON - The good news in warfare is that more soldiers are surviving serious injuries. The bad news is that more soldiers are living with them. With more soldiers than ever managing life after amputations and other injury-related conditions, the Army is trying to devise a standard for pain management across the service - using everything from drugs to acupuncture to various therapies, said Col. Kevin T. Galloway, the chief of staff for pain management in the Army. For 200 years, U.S. soldiers relied mainly on morphine to deaden pain. But commanders are learning that simply trying to snuff out all pain isn't necessarily the right approach, and that the Army needs some guidelines that apply whether a soldier is in a combat zone, on an evacuation flight or in training at a U.S. installation, Col. Galloway said. A soldier recuperating at home may be able to beat pain with strong drugs, but at a cost to his quality of life. "When the kids come home from school in the afternoon, dad's still on the couch," Col. Galloway said. Instead of trying to knock pain to zero, doctors' goal ought to be to maximize soldiers' function, while treating pain, he told defense writers at a breakfast. To read the full article, click here.
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS
DON'T FORGET . . .
The 15th Annual North American Neuromodulation Society's (NANS) Meeting December 8th -11th, 2011 at the Wynn, Las Vegas, NV.
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Would You Eat From This Kitchen?
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General consensus of the population is that if you could see the kitchen in a restaurant, it would determine whether or not you'd eat there. Correct? Of course - because no one wants to eat from a dirty kitchen! So why would it be any different when choosing which sterile compounding pharmacy to use?
Now, we realize that there is no way a sterile preparation environment for medication can be realistically compared to a kitchen . . . but this somewhat crude analogy poses this question, "If you wouldn't put food into your or someone else's body that came from a sub-standard preparation environment, why would you choose to with your medication?" The answer should be, "I wouldn't."
Per USP 797 guidelines, all sterile compounding pharmacies must have a cleaning program for their facilities, and there are minimum requirements for this program that must be met. However, this does not mean that all pharmacies have the same cleaning program. Some are clearly more advanced than others.
Here, at Hartley Medical, we have an extremely robust cleaning program that was started in 1993; and it has only been increased over the years. We clean and disinfect our sterile preparation floors, countertops, and laminar airflow workbenches on a daily basis . . . and our cleaning process is quite unique. First we spray a disinfectant, then we clean with an ammonia solution. We know that cleaning and disinfecting our sterile preparation environment is not the same as cleaning the dining table - you can't just spray and wipe. You must leave the solution on the area to achieve an optimal contact time. The longer the time - the greater the exposure - the better the kill rate you will have for bacteria. At Hartley Medical, we spray our disinfectant onto the work surface and walls, and allow the disinfectant to stay in that area for up to 5 minutes.
In addition, Hartley Medical cleans the entire clean room facility on a weekly basis. This includes the floors, ceilings, walls, outer surfaces, cabinets, countertops, etc. - all surfaces that could be coming in contact with bacteria are cleaned and disinfected. We do this every Monday to begin our week because we feel this is the most ideal way to clean the sterile preparation environment and kill bacteria so that we can safely compound sterile medications.
It is debated whether or not bacteria can develop a resistance to cleaning agents. Here at Hartley, we don't even take the risk. We alternate our cleaning agents on a monthly basis to reduce the risk of bacterial resistance.
So I now pose this question, "Would you eat from the 'kitchen' you are currently using?"
Here at Hartley Medical, we happily exceed the cleaning program requirements stipulated by USP 797. And with this we do surface testing to ensure that our cleaning program is effective and that our staff is employing good technique, good chemicals, and good contact time to take care of possible bioburdens within the sterile compounding area. Why? Because this is the Hartley Standard.
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WILLIAM'S NOTATIONS
ON CHOOSING THE RIGHT COMPOUNDING PHARMACY
With the 15th Annual North American Neuromodulation Society's (NANS) Meeting just around the corner, I couldn't help but think about the importance of this conference to both my organization and to all of those who will be attending. These conferences give all of us a chance to interact with current clients, friends, and respected colleagues throughout the world of pain medicine ... but we also hope to form new bonds as well. It is important, though - especially for practices seeking new providers for pain products - that these conferences don't just provide false first impressions ... but rather long-lasting relationships.
Hartley Medical strives to be a source of information, as well as a provider of the highest quality sterile pharmaceuticals. In doing so, we know that clients and potential clients need to be given the chance to make decisions based on as much information about a company as possible - which is why I want to provide my recommendations as to the process of choosing the right compounding pharmacy. These four simple steps will help you gain a plethora of insight into a company that will sail beyond your initial impressions.
1. Do Your Research: Companies will often give you information that highlights only the best aspects of the organization. While this is great information to view, you must do your own research to find if there are any negatives. The best way to do this is by simply doing a Google search. Look at the company Web site to see if there are any discrepancies between the materials you've been given and the information on their Web site. View their social media sites (Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.) and see what they are saying, and also what people are saying about them. It is important to expand your search to include the pharmacist(s) in charge as well. What is/are his/her/their background(s)? Do they have any past indiscretions? Are they highly qualified? Recommended? Look for any information that tells you who they are. Investigate news articles, peer reviews, etc. to obtain useful information to help influence your decision. Don't be afraid to call the pharmacy and request information that is not found during research.
2. Check References: Your sterile compounding pharmacy should provide you with a list of references, either voluntarily or by request. Even if a pharmacy presents well during the consultation phase, this is not always reflective of their future performance. This allows you to find out what advantages come from choosing a particular pharmacy, and sometimes the disadvantages. Pharmacies that overplay their features and benefits can often be exposed during this process.
3. Doing Site Visits: Again, pharmacists might give you pictures, videos, slideshows, etc. of their facilities and/or processes. These are often taken during abnormal conditions (so that things look better than they actually are). The best way to find out is to perform a random site visit. Just show up at their facility and ask for a tour. No compounding pharmacy should deny this to a current or potential client. And this allows you to judge the quality of both the facility and their products first-hand.
4. Stay Involved: Once you have chosen which sterile compounding pharmacy to utilize, don't just lose touch. Check in and stay on top of the company. Make sure that they continue to perform at, or exceed, the level of expectation that you have for them. Call and have conversations with the pharmacist(s) in charge and/or staff pharmacist(s). Visit their locations when you are in their area. Do whatever you need to in order to ensure that you are getting the most optimal service and top-quality products.
Here at Hartley Medical, we are very open about our organization. We encourage you to come and inspect our facility. You can find YouTube videos online that demonstrate normal business etiquette - not staged for the camera. We welcome phone calls and e-mails at random, just to say "Hi" and check in with us. And we readily have a list of references on hand.
The best sterile compounding pharmacy is the one that has nothing to hide - and Hartley Medical is an open book. Why? Because this is the Hartley Standard.
I hope to see you at this year's NANS Meeting - but if not, please contact me for any reason at all. I am here for you.
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Traditional Pharmacy Compounding is Changing ... and it's Changing for the Better!
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Click on the image above to take a virtual tour of Hartley Medical's state-of-the-art Clean Room!
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In the past, traditional compounding pharmacies - both hospital and retail - had laminar airflow workbenches in a common area of the pharmacy. Pharmacists and technicians were expected to safely compound medications in that type of environment. Changes have occurred over time, and focus is now shifting toward an enclosed, dedicated space designed to provide an optimal environment for sterile compounding. This space is accessible by door to minimize the exposure of outside room or building air from entering the sterile preparation area. This area is also known as a clean room facility.
A sterile preparation area takes a considerable amount of time, resources, and components to develop and construct. The materials are designed to be low-shedding, meaning they do not contribute particulates to the air within the clean room facility. The floor is made of vinyl, the walls are non-porous, and the ceiling panels are designed specifically for sterile preparation environments.
The facility has to have what is called an advanced air management system - which includes heating and cooling along with a filtration system. The temperature and humidity of the room is maintained not only to inhibit bacterial and fungal growth, but also to make it comfortable enough for employees to work.
The quality of air within the preparation area is directly related to the metric of what's called "air changes per hour." Air changes are the number of room air (the entire volume-metric size of air in the room) changes per hour that occur. The facility must be able to demonstrate that the filtration system is turning over the room air volume at a certain rate per hour. The USP 797's minimum standard is 30 air changes per hour. Hartley Medical's sterile preparation area has 180 air changes per hour ...
Additionally, these facilities require a certain amount of maintenance. There is a cleaning program, and the materials utilized in this program must not deteriorate the surfaces and must be successful in eliminating bacteria. The cleaning process must also have a monitoring program that examines the surfaces for bacteria. Here at Hartley Medical, just to be as thorough as possible, we also perform fungal testing.
The clean room facility is an integral part of optimal sterile compounding, but not all pharmacies have them. Those that do are ensuring that your sterile medications are being prepared in an ideal compounding environment. Hartley Medical believes that it is important to be introduced to some of the parameters of a clean room facility to be properly educated in understanding how sterile pharmaceuticals are aseptically prepared.
This is why we encourage you to visit our state-of-the art clean room facility first-hand! Or, take an online tour at http://www.hartleymedical.com/tour.html.You will be pleased with what you see.
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Looking Forward to Seeing You at NANS
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The time is here! The 15th Annual North American Neuromodulation Society's (NANS) Meeting will be held December 8-11, 2011 at the Wynn Las Vegas, Nevada.
We are excited to interact with fellow pain professionals and colleagues, and thrilled to meet new friends and converse with all of the distinguished guests.
Hartley Medical is proud to be one of this year's exhibitors, and we look forward to seeing each of you at this remarkable event. Stop by our exhibitor booth, # 203, to ask questions, watch some Hartley Medical videos, eat some Godiva chocolates, or to just say "Hi."
To find out more information about this year's NANS Meeting, click here.
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About Hartley Medical
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Hartley Medical is the nation's leading provider of the highest quality sterile pharmaceuticals for intra-spinal, infusion therapy patients. Our world-class pharmacy is exclusively dedicated to the custom compounding of medications for the treatment of pain and movement disorders.
Owned and directed by William A. Stuart, RPh - acknowledged pioneer in the field of pharmaceutical sterile compounding - Hartley, prior to its national expansion, established itself as one of the most successful and professionally distinguished pharmacies in the state of California.
We now serve over 400 leading pain physicians and premier health care institutions across the nation.
Visit our Web site at www.hartleymedical.com
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Disclaimer. The information contained in this publication is provided "as is" and without warranty, expressed or implied. Hartley Medical assumes no responsibility for any damages of any kind resulting from the procedures contained herein.
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WWW.HARTLEYMEDICAL.COM
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