The effect of oral communication on intravenous wastage: talk is cheap.

The authors describe decreases in wastage and return rates in their Pharmacy Service department in a 471-bed tertiary hospital. Through procedural changes in mixing and delivery schedules, stability updating, and daily communication with the Nursing Service, Pharmacy Service dropped from a 3.9% to a 1.44% wastage rate and from a 15.75% to an 8.2% return rate in a period of 17 months. The specific changes that led to this result are presented for consideration. The primary focus was on determining and noting accountability of involved staff members to decrease returns, missed treatments, and ultimately wastage of costly intravenous admixtures. The 0.9% wastage rate in the seventeenth month suggests that continued efforts may lead to further reductions.