We’re familiar with visits to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription or some over-the-counter meds, but what is an infusion pharmacy and why is it located within Valley’s new Cancer Center? We caught up with Ken Kenyon, Vice President of Pharmacy Services at Valley, to learn about the Infusion Pharmacy and how it serves patients. Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
In your own words, can you explain what an infusion pharmacy is?
An infusion pharmacy is a specialized pharmacy that prepares medications for injection or infusion. These medications can range from routine such as an antibiotic to highly complex biologic or hazardous drugs such chemotherapy that require specialized expertise in preparation for patient administration.
How does Valley’s Infusion Pharmacy support patients?
In addition to preparing injectable or infusion medications, infusion pharmacies are staffed by pharmacists that provide clinical oversight of patients receiving infusion therapies, ensuring patients receive the correct medication at the proper dose based on their diagnosis through collaboration as part of the patients’ health care team.
What are the benefits for our patients of having the new pharmacy location within our Cancer Center?
Infusion services require a highly collaborative environment across multiple healthcare disciplines as patient treatments are often complex, require vigilant monitoring, and frequent adjustments. Having the Infusion Pharmacy within the Cancer Center supports the necessary collaboration to promote a safe and efficient care environment for our patients.
Who works in the Infusion Pharmacy? How do they help take care of our patients?
The Infusion Pharmacy is staffed by clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The pharmacy technicians in the Infusion Center are trained to safely prepare complex and hazardous medications for subsequent patient administration. Clinical pharmacists ensure patients receive the correct medication based on evidence-based treatment guidelines, and the medication is dosed appropriately based on the patient’s diagnosis and clinical status. The clinical pharmacist also ensures the medications are prepared correctly by the pharmacy technicians.
Any features (new or otherwise) that will be in the new Infusion Pharmacy space that you’re especially excited for?
The new Infusion Pharmacy is state-of-the-art, with an emphasis on prioritizing staff safety while they prepare a variety of hazardous medications. In addition, the new Infusion Pharmacy will prepare all drugs for patients in the Infusion Center with the intended goal of improving efficiency and timeliness for patient throughput.
