How to Avoid Medication Errors in Hospitals
The guidelines, which are targeted at health system and hospital settings, are designed to give pharmacists ground rules and best practices to improve patient safety and avoid medication errors.
Smart Pump Custom Concentrations Without Hard ‘Low Concentration’ Alerts Can Lead to Patient Harm
During our latest summit, we focused on optimizing use of the technology during administration of secondary and intermittent infusions, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), epidural infusions, plain IV solutions, and perioperative/anesthesia medications; preparing for pump-electronic health record (EHR) interoperability; and library analytics.
Opioid Prescriptions Take a Dive
According to data from the Danbury, Connecticut–based IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, opioid prescriptions in general declined by 10.2% in 2017. Prescriptions for the highest doses fell by 16.1% in 2017 as well, and dropped more than 33% since January 2016. The report also found that prescription opioid volume has decreased every year over the past five years in all 50 states.
Case study: Cutting Overridden Medication Safety Alerts at DeKalb Medical
Last October, the hospital was placed under immediate jeopardy following the death of a patient with dementia. DeKalb Medical officers self-reported the incident to CMS and released a statement saying they “want to make sure it never happens again.” The case has spurred a series of patient safety reforms, many of which seek to reduce overreliance on technology.
Raise the Bar on Pain Management and Opioids
Hospitals can make their own policies, too. Institute a policy on opioid prescribing to relieve your providers of some decision-making pressure in an age of addiction awareness—and, if you do it right, your providers should still be able to give patients the pain relief they need.
Report: Medication Errors Led to Patient Death at Boston Children’s Hospital
The errors took place between January and November 2017, involving two medications and leading CMS surveyors to threaten Boston Children’s with potential termination from the Medicare program.
Infusion Pump Performance: Flow Accuracy and Continuity Often Don’t Add Up
Pumps undergo extensive pre-market testing, and vendor manuals provide detailed documentation of the results. However, pump performance in the real world often differs significantly from lab results, with a potentially significant impact on patient safety.
Colorado Nurses Face Jail Time After Pleading Guilty to Drug Thefts
Lisa Marie Jones, 43, was sentenced last Friday to 14 months in prison after pleading guilty to thefts of fentanyl, morphine, and hydromorphone from Denver’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center and UCHealth in Aurora in 2016 and 2017. Marlene Gilmore, 28, was given a four-month prison term after pleading guilty on April 20 to stealing the same drugs in 2016 from North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley.
Washington State Hospital Warns Patients of Possible Hep C Exposure
According to the Tacoma News Tribune, MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Wash., is notifying patients treated in its emergency room from August 4, 2017 to March 23, 2018 of the potential exposure and advising them to get tested.
How DeKalb Medical Fixed Drug Safety Problems After Fatal Error
Pharmacists may mistakenly override a medication safety alert because they are inundated with false alarms, DeKalb’s pharmacy director told inspectors after the fatal incident, according to an inspection report CMS released to HealthLeaders Media in response to a public records request.