Immediate steps toward patient safety: one health system explains how bar-code point-of-care technology offered a means to reduce medication errors that can be implemented relatively easily while pursuing more complex, long-term solutions

Healthcare Financial Management, Feb, 2004 by Van R. Johnson, John Hummel, Terance Kinninger, Russell F. Lewis

Moreover, once patients have experienced medication administration, blood transfusion, and laboratory specimen collection with a BPOC system, they will come to expect it. Sutter Health anticipates that the confidence instilled in patients by the technology will translate into greater patient loyalty and an influx of new patients to the health system as satisfied patients recount their positive experiences to others.

Nurse retention and satisfaction. Sutter Health perceives that BPOC systems not only afford patients added safety, but also protect a shrinking and essential resource pool--registered nurses. The organization acknowledges that hospitals wishing to survive the current nurse staffing crisis must establish themselves as premier institutions. The expanding patient base is just one indicator of such excellence. Investing in technology to enhance patient and staff safety is another, projecting a corporate image of care and attention.

Sutter Health is already reaping the benefits of improved nurse satisfaction, as many nurses have voiced appreciation for the BPOC system. Linda Goble, RN, a nurse at Sutter Roseville, offered the following praise: "This technology provides nurses with consistent backup to help better care for patients and make medication delivery even safer."

A recent nurse satisfaction survey related to BPOC use demonstrated a 42 percent improvement in nurse satisfaction with the medication administration and documentation process, and a 64, percent improvement in nurse perception of system efficiency and safety. (i)

Other benefits. The clinical benefits of BPOC technology also go beyond improving medication safety. The wireless network infrastructure and point-of-care devices now in place at many Sutter hospitals has enabled the organization to roll out a more comprehensive patient care system to improve care and streamline administrative tasks. This more extensive system facilitates bedside verification of accurate blood transfusions and positive identification of laboratory specimens.

In addition, the BPOC system provides highly accurate usage data that can be evaluated in combination with data from registration, pharmacy, laboratory, finance, and medical records systems to perform electronic disease management studies and drug-utilization reviews. These data permit Sutter Health to review clinical compliance with established best practices and eliminate waste from ineffective medication use, inaccurate specimen draws, and other errors.

Sutter also envisions significant administrative benefits from BPOC. For example, the BPOC system allows the organization to capture respiratory therapy treatments and other point-of-care services and trigger a charge transaction as a by-product of the administration process. Charging upon actual use or treatment eliminates tedious reconciliation and charge-back procedures and improves charge accuracy. Ultimately, Sutter sees the potential to use real-time data from the BPOC system to update medication and supply inventories for improved materials and supply-chain management.