Medication errors are a burgeoning concern in the health care industry. With the implementation of computerized infusion devices or Smart Pumps, as they are commonly called, studies have shown that medication errors are reduced significantly and have an immediate, positive impact on patient safety.

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Coronary Care Unit (CCU) at Monongahela Valley Hospital recently implemented this new medication delivery system that integrates customizable safety software with intravenous (IV) infusion devices.

The system will help to reduce medication errors and manage the medication administration process by defining medication dose limits and by tracking IV drug delivery at the patient bedside. All MVH staff using the Smart Pumps have been educated on the system.

The system integrates the Hospira Plum A+® infusion system, a medication delivery device (or IV pump), with Hospira MedNet™, a scalable and customizable drug software library. The system is designed to help nurses, physicians, pharmacists and other clinical staff to help ensure that the right patient receives the right drug in the right dose at the right time and rate of infusion.

"At Monongahela Valley Hospital, we are committed to continually enhance the care we provide to patients throughout the Mon Valley," said Sharon Nash, RN and Nurse Manager of the hospital’s ICU. "IV therapy is an important and routine way to deliver medication in the hospital. Our new medication delivery system will help us ensure – right at the patient bedside – that these medicines are ordered, programmed and delivered as accurately as possible.

“The planning for implementation of this technology occurred long before the pumps were delivered,” Nash said.

“We began with a team of key physicians, pharmacists, nurses and Hospria – the company supplying the units and software. That collaboration quickly expanded to involve professionals from the information systems, biomedical engineering, risk management and education departments. This group effort allowed us to tailor the technology to the specific MVH patient population and ensured a smooth launch once the units were on site.”

MVH currently has more than 100 drugs in its customized library with the capacity to increase the library up to 2,700 IV drug and fluid selections. Exact dosing limits are pre-programmed for each drug utilized.

“There are not many local health care facilities that have made the financial commitment to purchase these expensive units,” Nash said. “We are very fortunate that patient safety is paramount at MVH and we have invested the staff time for education and the dollars necessary to make this initiative a reality. The acquisition of these units put MVH at the forefront of patient safety technology.”

Trisha Lorenzi has been an ICU nurse at MVH for eight years. “The patient safety factor is phenomenal,” she said. “Nurses experience very busy days. This system contributes to safe patient care when it comes to patient medication administration. We aren’t welcoming it as a time saving device – we look at it like having another set of eyes and another way to help each patient.”

System users can set limits for multiple infusions delivered through the same pump and limits may be set that staff cannot manually override.
The system alerts clinicians if they have programmed a medication dose outside of the predetermined limits and logs these alerts to track compliance trends. All Smart Pump activity is wirelessly relayed to and documented on a dedicated, centralized computer server.

The clinicians at MVH are extremely pleased to be offering this advanced technology to the community. It’s just one of many patient safety initiatives supported by the organization.