Pharmaceuticals, food, and operating room products had the largest increases, according to Noblis

FALLS CHURCH – March 1, 2010 – Noblis, the provider of the RASMAS recall management service, reported that the number of released alerts rose at a steady rate of four percent between 2008 and 2009.  Although the rate of increase seems modest, the number of products involved in each recall increased dramatically, resulting in over 50 percent more products being recalled.  According to RASMAS analysts, the top three product domains with the most activity by product count were pharmaceuticals, food, and operating room (OR) products, specifically:

• Pharmaceutical product recalls increased by 108%
• Food recalls increased by 236%
• OR product recalls grew by 327%

“The past year has been quite challenging, not only in terms of the number of recalls, but the size of each recall and its impact on healthcare organizations.  In September, a pharmaceutical recall was released for Tylenol.  Initially, the recall included a small number of products, but by December, the recall expanded to include many other McNeil products,” stated RASMAS principal, Bill Klein.  “In the OR domain, a worldwide class II recall for the Flexima and Percuflex Drainage Catheter covered 134 products and over 750,000 units.  The large number of products and units affected by this recall and its wide geographic distribution demonstrate the impact a single recall can have on patient safety.  While all the players in the healthcare product supply chain continue to work on improving safety, this recall shows that effects of any single recall can reverberate across a broad swath of facilities and providers.”

Established in 2004, Noblis’ RASMAS helps healthcare organizations receive timely and actionable healthcare product recalls, offers comprehensive workflow capabilities, and provides access to a growing online community of healthcare professionals.  The RASMAS team provides quality control of recall information.  They focus on cataloging, tracking, and confirming the specifics of recalled products as well as ensuring that information is sent to RASMAS subscribers as quickly as possible.  RASMAS classifies recall notices into fifteen product domains:

• Biologics
• Biomedical Devices
• Blood Products
• Children’s Consumer Products
• Engineering and Facilities
• Food
• Information Systems
• Laboratory Products
• Medical Supplies
• OR Products
• Other Products (e.g., prosthetics)
• Pharmaceuticals
• Radiology Products
• Tissue
• Veterinary Products

The RASMAS database contains over 20, alerts released since 2004.  In 2009, the RASMAS released more than 3,200 alerts to healthcare organizations.

Today 8 of the top 10 hospitals on the 2009 US News and World Report’s America’s Best Hospitals Honor Roll are Noblis’ RASMAS subscribers.  Many leading hospitals utilize the RASMAS web-based service to transform their patient safety culture by driving patient safety best practices, improving cost management, and reducing exposure to product recall liability throughout the enterprise.

About Noblis

Noblis, a nonprofit science, technology and strategy organization, brings the best of scientific thought, management, and engineering know-how in an impartial environment to find timely, innovative, and enduring solutions to our clients’ greatest challenges.

Noblis works in essential areas, including healthcare; national security and intelligence; transportation; sustainability: energy, environment, and climate; and enterprise services. For more information on Noblis, please visit noblis.org.

About Noblis Health Innovation and RASMAS

In Health Innovation, Noblis is a catalyst and trusted resource for innovative and constructive transformation in healthcare serving both government and non-government organizations. Noblis Health Innovation is leading the way in clinical design, quality improvement, and patient safety. Health Innovation’s core capabilities include Engineering Methodologies to Strategically Implement Regulatory Change (ICD-10), Health Information Technology (HIT), Modeling and Analytics, Organizational Transformation, and Healthcare Market-Facility Planning and Capitalization.