The contemporary health care is constantly changing for many reasons including advancement in technology, improved knowledge, rising health care cost, lack of reimbursement, etc. etc. To keep up with this changing trend, health care organizations must then continually improve and upgrade their status (Marquis & Huston, 2015). They must engage in technological restructuring, provide quality care, increase patient satisfaction, and retain their staff (Marquis & Huston, 2015). For improvement to occur, health care organizations must develop new ideas, and initiate plan for change. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a growing problem at Summit Behavioral psychiatric unit, suggest ideas for change and develop a plan based on realistic …show more content…
Proposed Change
A good innovation or change that would improve medication administration, decrease or erradicate medication errors, thereby improving patient’s safety would be to get rid of the Pyxis mache and install a new electronic health recording device such as an EPIC with dual function of medication dispensation, e- charting properties, medication verfication, lab requisitions etc., all of which were performed previously with 4 different devices in the hosptal. Implementation of this advance EHR device would allow both the nurses and physicians enter their notes legibly in the machine thereby preventing errors. Also the device would provide for a bar coding system, and computerized check listing system which would provide proper identification of the patients and medications which would lead to patient safety, reduce cost for the hospital, and improve outcome (Collins, Newhouse, Porter, & Talsma, 2014). In order for this change to be effective and improve safety, staff will need to be trained on how to operate the device and use it safely to prevent medication errors (McAlearney, Terris, Hardacre, Spurgeon, Brown, Baumgart, & Nyström, 2014).
Alignment with the Mission, Vision, & Values of the Hospital
The brand promise of Summit Bhavioral hospital is to promote“Improved Health”. The hospitals mission statement robes the hospital with a statewide
It’s not simply the particular giving of the medications that fare up all the time. It is checking the medical record with the hand written prescriptions, grouping the varied medications and also the instrumentation for giving them, and ensuring all the patients safety measure are covered.
The MediMinder also comes with a complimentary app that can be used with any hand held device that will alert family members when medication has not been taken when scheduled promoting peace of mind. The app will also send refill alerts and allows the dispenser to be unlocked remotely in the event the key is misplaced. The MediMinder contains a vast number of different programmable options so that medications can be dispensed at multiple times per day if needed, which is an option unavailable with any other competitor’s unit. It is also designed to be space-saving in size while offering a wide variety of decorative options to compliment any setting. The MediMinder supports company G’s mission statement beautifully by improving the life of its customers through electronic innovation, cost effectiveness and convenience.
It is imperative that all members of the care team are able to quickly and accurately communicate the patients’ condition and needs to other members of the care team. Proper communication allows for better monitoring of the patients’ condition and allows the providers and pharmacists to more accurately assess the patients’ treatment needs. The implementation of electronic medical records (EMR), as Nightingale Hospital is currently researching, has been shown to greatly improve care team communication and patient outcomes by allowing easy, verifiable access to all the patients’ records. Implementation of an EMR system will provide a necessary foundation for a great improvement in staff and provider communication, resulting in improved outcomes for all patients, including those undergoing anticoagulation therapy. Specifically regarding anticoagulation therapy, EMR will allow other care team members, including other nurses, providers and pharmacists’ one place to look for patient histories, allergies, lab and other results and monitor, potential drug interactions and adjust medication levels with regard to patient specific needs. EMR will also allow for more accurate medication administration through
In the classroom, it is very important to have lab safety. In a hospital pharmacy, lab safety is essential to ensuring a safe dosage to each patient. Throughout my time interning as a pharmacist at the UVM Medical center, I was often observing how much pharmacists used DoseEdge software. DoseEdge automated system that assists the process of dose routing and preparation. This product of Baxter has allowed the tasks of pharmacy change. The focus of my project was “How does current and future technology affect efficiency and accuracy in pharmacy practice?”. Through my research of Baxter’s website, articles about their product, and reports of advancing technologies in pharmacy, I found that DoseEdge is very successful in productivity and safety in the workplace. Before DoseEdge, everything was required to be prepared by hand. This required a lot of responsibility for for pharmacists and technicians to make the correct dosage in the quickest manner. Medicine is very important to a hospital, so it is very important to have the most efficient way in preparing and distributing it. This allows pharmacist to have a better way of double-checking the preparation of drugs. In each IV hood, there is an overhead camera that takes pictures of what drug and how much of it the technician is using. Pharmacist can view multiple orders all by computer without the need of being physically next to the technician. There are also requirements to have two pharmacists check the same order for high risk drugs like chemotherapy. This
These systems will also help cut down on medication errors by comparing the patient’s to medications or interventions so that it is given to the correct patient. Also documents the care given so there would be no human error in the case of questioning whether care had been given as long as the caregiver documents in the record. These features of the electronic health record are in place to promote patient safety by reducing errors.
The following articles were reviewed for the purpose of addressing bar code scanning in medication administration. Nursing requires the critical skill of accurate medication administration. The use of electronic medication administration has brought about many changes in the healthcare field. The article,” What Determines Successful Implementation of Inpatient Information Technology Systems” (Spetz et al 2012), was reviewed to address the above question. Computerized patients records and bar-code medication systems continue to gain favor in healthcare. This idea spread across the nation in all VA sites (Spetz et al., 2012, p. 157), providing a safer environment for patient care.
Health information technology or HIT is a huge part of the dashing changes in how medications are prescribed, dispensed, and administered by using technologies electronic devices to share and manage patient information, instead of doing it the old fashion way which was over the phone, having all patients’ records and files on paper, and using the old fax method. Everything is computerized, from managing the
While the use of barcode technology has had many applications in hospitals for quite some time it has only recently been used to address patient safety. Mitch Work (2005) views bar code technology as a particularly promising advance in the effort to reduce medical errors. Barcodes provide a valuable verification of medication administration by assuring that the "five rights" are confirmed: right patient, right medication, right dose, right time, and right route of administration. The use of barcode technology at the patient's bedside has shown notable gains in reducing medication administration errors, which may account for as many as 7,000 deaths per year in U.S. hospitals.
Adoption of EHR can derive a great amount of benefits in clinical outcomes such as patient safety and quality of care. Qualtiy of care can be measured with different dimensions such as patient safety, effectiveness, and efficiency. Patient safety is defined as ‘avoiding injuries to patients from the care that is intended to help them’(Menachemi and Collum, 2011, p. 49). Often times, lack of time can contribute to omission of asking patients important questions such as drug allergy information and confirming important patient identifiers such as addresses/phone numbers. Improvement of medication error is a well-noted benefit of EHR as seen in numerous researches. According to a study, researchers found that a CPOE system was contributory in reducing serious medication errors by 55% in the hospital setting (Bates, 1998). Many other studies have reported similar findings in patient safety improvement. When e-prescribing is used, prescriptions can be checked for any drug interactions with
Within the Electronic Health Record program, the nurse has access to evidence-based practice tools that can assist the nurse in making decisions regarding the patients plan of care (Linder, J., Bates, D., Middleton, B., & Stanfford, R., 2007). The most important feature of the Electronic Health Record is the ability to instantly provide real-time patient-centered data to all authorized providers (HIT, 2013). The Electronic Health Record is real-time, providing nurses with the most up to the moment patient information the significance of this feature can be explained in the following example. For example, if a patient is in surgery, the patient's health record is available to the circulating nurse in the Operating Room, the Post Anesthesia Care Unit nurse and can be shared with the unit staff nurse the patient will be transferred to after recovering in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit. This is of particular importance because having access to the patient's chart, allows the nurses at each phase on the patient's care the ability to prepare supplies, gather necessary equipment and arrange for supplementary staff. Evidence-based practice suggests appropriate planning is a key factor in promoting positive, cost efficient patient outcomes (Anderson, 2012). In the profession of nursing when time is of the essence, and time loss can mean loss of a life, this is a feature that is very
As indicated earlier, Pat has made significant accomplishments within a year’s timeframe and he has been introduced to different levels of the hospital hierarchy system in an expeditious fashion; however, his continued professional development is essential to his impending success. Furthermore, Pat managerial skills appear to have shifted the culture of the behavioral health unit from what it once was to better patient and employee satisfaction as well as benchmark excellence increases. Also, Pat was recognized for having a successful first quarter 2018 rollout of a treatment program in the Behavioral Health Intensive Outpatient Program as this improvement was the first project under Pat’s leadership to receive and fully implement an IEP grant. Moreover, Pat’s energy and wishes for the behavioral health unit and anticipated programs declares his visionary spirit for the advancement for the department. Moreover, Pat appears to have impressed his superiors and they seem to respect his judgments and ideas as he continues to make successful gains. For instance, the IEP task force personally displayed their appreciation and gratitude for the work Pat is doing and has done in his leadership roles and has encouraged him to share his ideas. Lastly, another accomplishment is that Pat is now a board member of the suicide prevention
“Medication errors are a frequent and costly problem for hospitalized patients, and medication administration errors account for one-third of all medication errors” (Bonkowski, Carnes, Mirtallo, Reichert, & Weber, 2013, p. 802). Therefore, in return to the all the mistakes that were being made barcode-assisted medication administration was developed. It has been shown that when barcode-assisted medication administration is used properly and in compliance it improves errors by 40-70% in hospitalized patients (Bonkowski et al., 2013, p. 802). Therefore regarding non-compliance with barcode-assisted medication scanning, the nurses who pose a threat to the non-compliance need to be pointed out and dealt with on a first-hand basis. Nurses who start
Nursing in today?s society involves more than technical skills, critical thinking, and compassion. It also is changing to add the ability to not only understand but be able to utilize technology to impact a patient?s health. There are many technological changes employed in healthcare practices, however, I have chosen to address bar-code medication administration or BCMA. According to an article in the Journal of Patient Safety, ?bar-code medication administration has been shown to be effective in reducing patient medical errors, yet is still only utilized in 5% of the country?s health care facilities? (Sands, Slebodnik, & Young, 2010). Medication errors are common in hospitals and often lead not only to patient harm, but also lengthy hospital stays and law suits. ?One study identified 6.5 adverse events related to medication use per 100 inpatient admissions, more than one fourth of these events were due to errors and were therefore preventable? (Bane, et. al., 2010).
Information technology use in HMHP has been implemented in the past few years. The organization as a whole has gone to a system called EPIC that was at first difficult for staff to get used to but now is an asset to the organization. Advances in information technology have introduced new design approaches that support health care delivery and patient education (Demiris et al., 2008). The electronic medication administration record has made it safer for patients when receiving medications in the hospital because of the checks it uses upon administration. Also, the double verification of medication like heparin and insulin help to reduce errors. Physicians entering their own orders and having electronic notes has also made it easier to carry out orders and know what the plan entails. Information technology has also
In today’s medical field technology plays a big role when it comes to patient care. Technology is huge when it comes to giving the patient the best type of quality care when they are in the hospital. In the old days people would just write it down on a sheet of paper and record it by hand, which caused mistakes. Now with the Electronic Health Record those mistakes are drastically declining. Statistics have shown that using the Electronic Health Record has lowered Nursing mistakes as well as improved patient care. Our society has progressed through the years and has been introduced with the Electronic Health Record which has drastically improved our health care system. The Electronic Health Record provides great communication between