Sustainable practice: Prescribing oral over intravenous medications

What you need to knowThe carbon footprint of manufacturing, using, and disposing of intravenous medications and their packaging is likely to be higher than for oral medicationConsider prescribing oral medications whenever intravenous therapy would be unlikely to be more beneficial than oral preparationsTools to support switching of intravenous to oral medications can help to improve practice at a systems levelOral medication can often be prescribed instead of intravenous options. Switching intravenous to oral administration can help to reduce the carbon footprint of clinical care, and has clinical, resource, and cost benefits. This article outlines the environmental benefits of oral over intravenous medications, and offers pointers on how to safely embed appropriate prescribing and intravenous to oral switches (IVOS) into clinical practice.Why change is neededOveruse of intravenous medicines when oral formulations would be more appropriate is a global phenomenon, according to the World Health Organization.1 Intravenous medicines are associated with a…
Read Original Article: Sustainable practice: Prescribing oral over intravenous medications »