AAMI: Getting smarter? One provider on wireless pump go-live
SAN ANTONIO--Clinical engineers from Univeristy of California, (UC) Davis Health System used the 2011 Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference & expo presented an overview of its large-scale, wireless infusion smart pump implementation process.
The Sacramento, Calif.-based system scheduled, evaluated, tested and implemented more than 1,000 smart pumps between spring 2008 and fall 2009.
The facility’s need for new wireless smart pumps largely stemmed from Baxter Healthcare's Colleague infusion pump recall, although concerns for patient safety, cost and a desire to go wireless also contributed to the hospital’s decision to replace its pumps.
Five of the facility’s departments participated in the implementation process, which started with product selection. Pharmacy, clinical engineering, IT, nursing and purchasing first established four vendor application requirements: mandatory specifics, teaching proposals, cost proposals and a hands-on evaluation.
Based on an in-house scoring system that calculated cost and quality, two manufacturers were then selected as finalists.
While the clinical engineering department evaluated 50 pumps from each vendor for flow rate accuracy, alarm verification and battery capacity test, the IT department carefully tested the pumps for wireless connectivity and data transfer. Due in large part to its wireless capabilities--in addition to its standard tubing, small size and ease of use--Sigma won the contract to install its Spectrum infusion pumps across the entire UC Davis Health System.
One of the more important aspects of implementing the Sigma pumps was the creation of a master drug library, which initially featured almost 1,000 unique drugs.
“High risk drug changes, patient safety and hospital policy are the main reasons the library is updated once every six months,” said Colleen Ward, assistant manager of clinical engineering at the UC Davis Health System.
The next step, according to Ward, was Super User Training, an intensive, hands-on approach for the clinical engineering staff, the IT department and pharmacy personnel to familiarize themselves with the new pumps. Due to space constraints in the hospital, part of this training took place in a nearby abandoned building, where, she said, finding electricity and battling cooler temperatures made for an adventurous process.
Eventually, the time for go-live approached. “So how did it go?,” asked Tom Cohen, manager of clinical engineering at the UC Davis Health System. As it turns out, a lot went wrong. “The wireless system went down,” he explained. “And our lead IT guy was in Hawaii on vacation.”
A software bug, an access point configuration problem and a wireless data density problem all contributed to the system shutting down, according to Cohen. In the end, however, it was the little things that confounded Cohen. "You can't imagine how time-consuming removing 1,000 pumps from their boxes can be," he said.
The infusion pumps finally went live in late 2009.
The Sacramento, Calif.-based system scheduled, evaluated, tested and implemented more than 1,000 smart pumps between spring 2008 and fall 2009.
The facility’s need for new wireless smart pumps largely stemmed from Baxter Healthcare's Colleague infusion pump recall, although concerns for patient safety, cost and a desire to go wireless also contributed to the hospital’s decision to replace its pumps.
Five of the facility’s departments participated in the implementation process, which started with product selection. Pharmacy, clinical engineering, IT, nursing and purchasing first established four vendor application requirements: mandatory specifics, teaching proposals, cost proposals and a hands-on evaluation.
Based on an in-house scoring system that calculated cost and quality, two manufacturers were then selected as finalists.
While the clinical engineering department evaluated 50 pumps from each vendor for flow rate accuracy, alarm verification and battery capacity test, the IT department carefully tested the pumps for wireless connectivity and data transfer. Due in large part to its wireless capabilities--in addition to its standard tubing, small size and ease of use--Sigma won the contract to install its Spectrum infusion pumps across the entire UC Davis Health System.
One of the more important aspects of implementing the Sigma pumps was the creation of a master drug library, which initially featured almost 1,000 unique drugs.
“High risk drug changes, patient safety and hospital policy are the main reasons the library is updated once every six months,” said Colleen Ward, assistant manager of clinical engineering at the UC Davis Health System.
The next step, according to Ward, was Super User Training, an intensive, hands-on approach for the clinical engineering staff, the IT department and pharmacy personnel to familiarize themselves with the new pumps. Due to space constraints in the hospital, part of this training took place in a nearby abandoned building, where, she said, finding electricity and battling cooler temperatures made for an adventurous process.
Eventually, the time for go-live approached. “So how did it go?,” asked Tom Cohen, manager of clinical engineering at the UC Davis Health System. As it turns out, a lot went wrong. “The wireless system went down,” he explained. “And our lead IT guy was in Hawaii on vacation.”
A software bug, an access point configuration problem and a wireless data density problem all contributed to the system shutting down, according to Cohen. In the end, however, it was the little things that confounded Cohen. "You can't imagine how time-consuming removing 1,000 pumps from their boxes can be," he said.
The infusion pumps finally went live in late 2009.