Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 - (Page 5) 5 Of Interest to Pharmacists referred to by manufacturers as “smart pumps” (which hit the market about seven years ago) automatically alert clinicians to avoid harmful IV infusion programming errors. “Since their introduction, the devices and the software have continued to evolve,” said Vanderveen. “And the value of the continuous quality improvement (CQI) data collected by the pumps has become increasingly important to health systems, affecting best practices, quality, and financial decisions.” That’s because the smart pumps’ CQI logs automatically document every soft and hard alert, the medication that was involved, the initial dose programmed, and the subsequent action taken by the caregiver. The logs document the patient care area or patient type, location, time, and date. “This is very valuable information—critical data about patient-specific events,” said Vanderveen. The information is used to evaluate the effect of the devices on patients’ care, as well as determine how precisely physician orders are actually carried out, and to identify possible best practice and compliance improvements. But the gathering of the information, and therefore its evaluation, can be very time-consuming. With wired pumps, accessing logs requires connecting every device to a laptop computer to download data. Sometimes data are downloaded only during regular preventative maintenance by the engineering departments, at six-month or even yearly intervals—the data can therefore involve thousands of alerts. But wireless connectivity permits direct communication between a hospital's informa- Glenn Davis of Hospira says tion system and each smart Symbiq’s new interface is easier to use pump. CQI data are collected automatically and daily reports can be generated for review by pharmacists, nurses, and risk managers. Practice problems are identified quickly, dose limits that might be causing nuisance alerts can be quickly adjusted, and drug information advisories can be posted as new information is gathered. “Using wireless connectivity, creating the information and act- http://www.watson.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 Contents The Patient's Role in Preventing Drug Errors Wireless Connectivity Making Smart Pumps Wiser Hospira Markets Smart Pump with a New Interface Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 - Contents (Page 1) Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 - Contents (Page 2) Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 - The Patient's Role in Preventing Drug Errors (Page 3) Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 - Wireless Connectivity Making Smart Pumps Wiser (Page 4) Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 - Wireless Connectivity Making Smart Pumps Wiser (Page 5) Drug Topics - July 21, 2008 - Hospira Markets Smart Pump with a New Interface (Page 6)
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