Personnel time and preparation costs for compounded versus premixed intravenous admixtures in three community hospitals.

Personnel time requirements and costs associated with the ordering, preparation, and administration of manually compounded versus premixed i.v. admixtures were determined at three for-profit community hospitals. The three hospitals, all owned by one corporation, ranged in size from 160 to 239 beds. At each hospital, pharmacists or technicians manually compounded admixtures in glass bottles or plastic bags. Work flow descriptions of the activities involved in the preparation and administration of admixtures were created, and time-motion and work-sampling techniques were used to observe three to five pharmacists or technicians in each hospital over a seven-day period. Drug waste also was monitored. At the conclusion of the baseline study, each hospital switched to the premixed products that they had chosen to evaluate; admixtures of cefazolin sodium, cefoxitin sodium, gentamicin sulfate, and potassium chloride were available. After a two-week acclimation period, the seven-day study was repeated. Average total labor time ranged from 5.6 to 9.1 minutes per compounded admixture to 4.1 to 7.7 minutes per premixed admixture. The percentage of total labor time devoted to compounding, delivering, stocking, and other physical handling of materials decreased by 64% for admixtures of gentamicin or potassium chloride and by 67% for admixtures of cefazolin or cefoxitin. The average reduction in annual costs for accessories, labor time, wasted drugs, and inventory at each hospital was +15,000. Additional savings were realized from overall lower acquisition costs for the premixed products at the study hospitals. The use of premixed i.v. admixtures reduced preparation time and labor and material costs in three small- and medium-sized community hospitals.