Medical-grade refrigeration continues to be an important topic for healthcare providers; these cold storage units are critical to protecting very expensive, and sometimes very sensitive, medications and vaccines. Pharmacy Purchasing & Products (PP&P) recently released The 11th Annual State of Pharmacy Automation Report which surveyed pharmacists on the use of medical-grade cold storage. This report is based on responses from 384 Pharmacy Directors across facilities of different size, location, and practice setting. In the 2016 report, PP&P asked specific questions related to the adoption of medical-grade refrigeration for medication and vaccine storage in both the pharmacy and unit setting.
The results of the PP&P survey indicate that around 74% of hospitals are committed to exclusively using medical-grade refrigerators in their pharmacy, and the use of these models has grown 19% over the past 4 years. However, Pharmacists surveyed believe that the adoption of medical-grade cold storage outside of the pharmacy, in units, is not as high and the use of lower quality cold storage models is more common. In this survey 60% of surveyed Pharmacists indicated that there were still some refrigerators in use on the units for medication or vaccine storage that are not considered medical-grade.
If medications and vaccines are not stored appropriately, therapy efficacy and safety can be compromised. Some organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have made this topic a priority for the past several years. The CDC has accelerated the adoption of appropriate cold storage devices across hospital and outpatient settings with the release of their Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit. This toolkit, last updated in June 2016, provides guidance on vaccine storage equipment and procedures based on recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, scientific studies, and information from vaccine manufacturers.
The results of the PP&P survey indicate that pharmacists recognize that medications and vaccines require reliable and high performance medical-grade cold storage to ensure effectiveness and to improve patient safety. Responses reinforce that there have been great improvements ensuring medications and vaccines are stored in medical-grade refrigerators. However, there are still many medication and vaccine refrigerators (especially outside of the pharmacy, on units), that require replacement to ensure high levels of patient care and safety.
Medical-grade refrigerators are very different from other types of refrigerators; find out how by viewing our video below.
For more information about medical-grade refrigeration, use the link below to download our article "Demystifying Medical-Grade Refrigeration".
