What does adc in pharmacy stand for? There are a number of ways to use ADCs to enhance patient safety and increase productivity. These systems have many benefits, including providing a safe working environment for pharmacists. For example, they can ensure that dispensed medication is refilled correctly without any errors. They can also help reduce the risk of overstocking by using internal return bins to track returned medications.
An ADC can be linked to the pharmacy computer, allowing a pharmacist to review new medication orders and screen them for safety. Many times, nurses will not be alerted to potential risks, such as dangerous doses, allergic reactions, duplicate therapy, and drug interactions. An ADC can help pharmacists identify these risks and save time by providing important drug information. If your pharmacy does not have an ADC, there are several ways you can get around this problem.
ADCs can help prevent errors, and a pharmacist should continually review the effectiveness of the process. Pharmacies should implement an ongoing competency and education program for ADC staff to make sure that they are properly trained. Another way to ensure that your staff is performing within specified standards is to establish a continual competency and education program. The process is complicated, and pharmacists need to be aware of the pitfalls before they begin.
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a class of biopharmaceutical drugs designed to kill cancer cells and spare healthy cells. As of today, fifty-six pharmaceutical companies are working to develop and commercialize ADCs.
Check out the infographic below to see the process of how they do it!
Infographic provided by OmniAb, an antibody discovery platform research organization
These medications use monoclonal antibodies linked to chemical linkers with labile bonds. The combination of these two components is what gives ADCs their ability to kill cancer cells.
In addition to identifying the specific ADCs used in healthcare settings, pharmacists must also discuss the risks of using them. As with any technology, using an ADC without proper guidance can lead to drug errors. While this practice can be convenient, it is also dangerous and could even result in the loss of a license. Because of this risk, pharmacists should discuss the risks with their frontline staff. The best way to improve ADC security is to implement barcode technology.
Before ADCs became the standard of medication dispensing, pharmacists and nurses needed to physically access these medications. ADCs make it easier to access medications that are locked away in patient care units. Electronically tracking all drugs helps hospitals better control inventory levels and eliminate the need for redundant checking systems. Nurses also benefit from ADCs because they can review the medication order before distributing it to the patient. Finally, an ADC can be interfaced with other databases or billing systems.
In a study published by Tsao et al. in PUBMED and Embase, Tsao and colleagues identified 175 studies evaluating ADCs in hospital wards. Among them, eight studies were included for evidence synthesis. The authors found that ADCs reduced medication storage errors, decreased the number of patients’ medications in a patient, and improved the overall time and efficiency of medication administration. In addition to improved patient safety, an ADC reduced the number of pharmacists’ time spent on medication preparation, and decreased the frequency of drug omissions.
