tration and expiration date. That's more information than anesthe-
sia providers often note on handwritten labels. Because the med-
ications come ready to administer and, in some cases, in dose-
appropriate amounts, prefilled syringes also reduce the waste
you'll need to dispose of at the end of the case.
There are more practical ways to help ensure your team prepares
and administers the correct medications. Limit the types and quanti-
ties of medications in the perioperative area to those that are needed
for the day's cases. Also, constantly assess your medication use in
order to streamline supplies. That way, you'll stock only often used
and needed medications in anesthesia workspaces, automated dis-
pensing cabinets and drug storage carts.
Security measures
Controlled substances are commonplace in the OR and are easily
diverted if you don't have systems in place to carefully monitor their
use and keep them secured until immediately before the case during
which they're needed.
Locking anesthesia carts electronically control access to drugs and
can track — thanks to provider-specific passcodes or keycards —
who accessed medications. More basic double-locking carts also help
secure controlled substances; one key provides access to standard
medications, while the other unlocks the drawer containing the drugs
to which you want to limit access.
Automated dispensing cabinets provide more advanced drug moni-
toring. The cabinets record the the time the medication was accessed,
the exact amount that was removed and the amount that was
returned or wasted after a case. You can check the records to see if
the amount of medication documented as administered during the
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