Visante 
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Summer Meetings & Exhibition took place in person in Baltimore, Maryland from June 10-14, 2023. Our expert, Dikesh Patel, shares three takeaways that we thought were important to highlight for our readers.
Visante’s top 3 hard-hitting topics coming out of the 2023 Summer Meetings & Exhibition:
Social Determinants of Health
The construct of social determinants of health was a big hitter topic as it applies to global healthcare delivery. Some things discussed were about understanding how social contexts and factors lead to disparities in health status, access to care, treatment, and outcomes. Another interesting concept shared was about the Fundamental Cause Theory (FCT) which attempts to explain why social inequalities in healthcare persevere despite medical modernization and advancements in clinical practice.
USP 797, BUDs, and Sterile Compounding
Another important topic during this year’s summer meeting was the compounding track sessions as the USP compounding-related chapters are slated to become official as of November 1, 2023. Environmental monitoring (EM) requirements for USP <797> and implications on day-to-day sterile compound practice was the talk of many operational pharmacy leaders. Lastly, this was all tied together nicely with one of the evening symposia which outlined how to centralize a health system’s EM program while also considering avenues for extended beyond-use dating (BUDs) via the addition of terminal sterilization to aseptic sterile compounding technique.
Medication Safety
Lastly, another focused track that garnered wide interest from the masses was the updates to the 2023 Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) recommendations. Health system pharmacy practice continues to evolve with the help of ISMP and their recommendations for product labeling improvements, guidance on storage, distribution, and standardized concentrations within the perioperative space. (See also Visante’s white paper on medication safety and the role of pharmacy technicians.)
Some additional topics that were front and center at the meeting included Specialty Pharmacy, 340B pressures, Infusion Strategy, Pharmacy Revenue Cycle, DEI, and Employee Well Being.
From our perspective, it was great to connect with our pharmacy colleagues during the ASHP 2023 Summer Meetings & Exhibition and we look forward to connecting again soon!
Here at Visante, we help hospitals and health systems to make the most of their programs and optimize savings. Contact us at solutions@visanteinc.com to talk to one of our team members.
