Using smart pumps to understand and evaluate clinician practice patterns to ensure patient safety.

BACKGROUND: Safety software installed on intravenous (IV) infusion pumps has been shown to positively impact the quality of patient care through avoidance of medication errors. The data derived from the use of smart pumps are often overlooked, although these data provide helpful insight into the delivery of quality patient care.
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this report are to describe the value of implementing IV infusion safety software and analyzing the data and reports generated by this system. CASE STUDY: Based on experience at the Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS), executive score cards provide an aggregate view of compliance rate, number of alerts, overrides, and edits. The report of serious errors averted (ie, critical catches) supplies the location, date, and time of the critical catch, thereby enabling management to pinpoint the end-user for educational purposes. By examining the number of critical catches, a return on investment may be calculated. Assuming 3,328 of these events each year, an estimated cost avoidance would be $29,120,000 per year for CHS. Other reports allow benchmarking between institutions.
CONCLUSION: A review of the data about medication safety across CHS has helped garner support for a medication safety officer position with the goal of ultimately creating a safer environment for the patient.