BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, introduced a simplified way for hospitals to manage intravenous (IV) medication to help improve safety and reduce waste.
National data show that 90 percent of hospital patients receive an IV medication during their stay1. However, a manual IV compounding process is prone to errors, with an average error rate of 9 percent for chemotherapy, injectables and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) infusions2. In addition, 7 percent to 15 percent of oncology budgets are spent on infusions that are prepared, but never get used3, resulting in unnecessary waste.
During the 50th Annual American Society of Health-system Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting being held Dec. 6-10 in New Orleans BD introduced a new, automated IV management solution built on the combined technologies of BD and CareFusion, which BD acquired in March. This is the first solution to include BD and CareFusion technologies working together to create a simplified and safer medication management system.
"Combining BD and CareFusion technologies creates a safer and more simplified way to manage IV medication at hospitals," said Ranjeet Banerjee, worldwide president of Medication Management Solutions for BD. "We will continue to integrate and innovate to develop medication management solutions that help clinicians deliver the safest and most efficient care."
Starting in the IV room of a hospital pharmacy, BD Cato™ Medication Workflow Solutions have been integrated with the CareFusion SmartWorks platform to seamlessly integrate with pharmacy IT systems to receive IV orders. Throughout the medication preparation process, the BD Cato System helps detect potential errors optimize drug utilization, simplify preparation steps and improve documentation compliance.
If preparing hazardous drugs, clinicians may use a closed system drug transfer device (CSTD), and BD’s Hazardous Drug Safety portfolio of solutions can help minimize the risk of hazardous drug exposure for health care workers and patients through products like the BD PhaSeal system.
After the medication has been safely prepared and is ready to deliver to the patient floor, the Track and Deliver module of Pyxis® ES Link enables the pharmacy and nurses to see exactly where the medication is during transport and when and where it is delivered. This helps nurses better manage their time and reduces calls to the hospital pharmacy inquiring about status and whereabouts of medication.
Once the medication makes it to the patient bedside, the Alaris® System with bi-directional electronic medical record (EMR) interoperability bridges the gap between an EMR and an infusion pump. With only one additional barcode scan to a nurse’s workflow, the pharmacist-verified physician’s order can pre-populate the Alaris System, reducing manual keystrokes and infusion programming errors.
EMR interoperability also enables automated documentation back to the patient’s EMR, where the nurse validates the data in the EMR and commits it to the patient record, eliminating the need for manual documentation and ensuring that documentation is complete and accurate. In addition, Alaris® Viewer Suite for Charge Capture takes all of the data from the Alaris System and displays it in a patient-specific report, making it easier for billers and coders to make an accurate claim for reimbursement.
Finally, through Pyxis ES Link, a nurse can submit an IV refill request that will be displayed in the Med View Dashboard and enable pharmacists to proactively plan for IV replenishment needs, reducing the risk of interrupted therapy and waste. The refill order is sent to the BD Cato Medication Workflow Solutions and the process begins again.