Systemic Problems
> There are 3.8 million inpatient admissions and 3.3 million outpatient visits.
> 37% of errors occur during drug deliveries, with opiates, insulin and anticoagulants at the highest risk level.
This includes:
> 7,000 annual preventable deaths.
> 7 million inpatient days that are NOT REIMBURSED which cost hospitals more than 4 billion dollars annually and 16 billion in the outpatient market.
Hospitals continue to seek solutions such as
> Physician Order Entry Systems Bar Code Prescriptions
> Point of Care (POC) patient bar coding
> Drug Safety Database Checking at POC
> Hospital Ward-Based Dispensing Systems (Pyxis ®)
But large gaps still remain all of which can contribute to error. For example nurses must still:
> Interpret labels for drug concentration and patient dose
> Perform dosing calculations (ie: concentrations to volume)
> Prepare a syringe with the correct dose (volume) and inject at the proper rate
> Program infusion pump for correct rates and volumes
Infusion Device Market Failure / FDA Summit:
In addition, the infusion device Industry has struggled with its response.
For example, at one point towards the end of 2010, things became so serious in the infusion device industry that the President of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and the Director of Standards Management Staff of the FDA put out an unprecedented joint statement.
It spoke of a “barrage of reports it received about too many adverse incidents involving infusion devices”, and went even further by taking another unprecedented step and calling together diverse experts from the industry and the FDA to meet for a summit during October 5 – 6, 2010 to “change the world of infusion devices”. One might also interpret this as an effort to stem the flow of infusion device failures.
The Medipacs® Solution
Medipacs® is “changing the world” of infusion devices by making patient safety the most important role in the development of the Mini-Infuser™.
In fact the development of the Mini-Infuser™ itself was an important factor for increased patient safety. It eliminates extra steps that are now a part of the current process which can increase the probability of a mistake while reducing additional time spent by the nursing staff and other medical personnel. We are also developing wireless transmission capable of on site or remote observations. The Mini-Infuser™:
> Eliminates pharmacy preparation
> Eliminates nursing preparation/programming
> Reduces by an order of magnitude SKUs
> Future capability of wireless tracking, reporting, and control of drug infusion
> Is ideal for use in all settings
Conclusion
Dr. Joseph Shurman, Chairman of Pain Management at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, California puts it best while discussing the advantages of the Mini-Infuser™:
Pain management medication administration errors, and infection are key issues important to the Joint Commission. Use of this device has the potential to impact patient care in several ways. Nurses may make pain assessments and initiate dose administration on a single patient visit, providing patients with faster pain relief. The nurse will make fewer trips to get pain medications compared to bolus injections. Fewer trips means fewer chances for serious administration errors. No bedside dose preparation and associated drug waste is required. Disposable pumps significantly eliminate infection risks as no cleaning or disinfection is required.
Venipuncture is one of the top causes of traumatic neuropathic pain in hospital settings. With the subcutaneous injection, you minimize this risk. Subcutaneous use reduces IV infections, lowers nursing requirements and decreases the risks for traumatic neuropathic pain.
I believe that the Medipacs® product has the potential to make a significant difference in patient outcomes, safety, clinician efficiency, and treatment costs.