A new computerized system being test-driven at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis may be able to drastically reduce life-threatening medication errors by catching them before they happen.
The system relies scanning the bar codes found on a patient's armband and a programmable "smart pump." If the dose does not match up when a nurse scans these codes along with the medication - or if the order has been canceled by a doctor - the smart pump will send out an alert.
Medication errors are an even greater worry with infants and children as dosage must be tailored to their weight. In one month alone, the new system sent out 234 alerts to nurses in one 26-bed unit warning that something was incorrect.
The effectiveness of the new system is beginning to catch on; the system will begin rolling out to other hospitals within the next few months.
"Humans are humans, we're fallible," said Bobbie Carroll, the director of patient safety at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. "No matter how diligent we try to be sometimes, errors happen. What we strive to achieve is creating as many safety nets as we can." Read the complete details here:
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Steve Crandall, a top-rated medical malpractice attorney throughout Ohio and Kentucky, welcomes this new technology as an important improvement in the continuous plague of medical mistakes.
"Medication errors are far too common and cause many more deaths per year than most of us realize," said Crandall. "Human error is the primary cause, as a result, any new technology like this is bound to save lives and improve patient care."
If you have any questions regarding medical malpractice throughout Ohio and Kentucky, contact the attorneys of Crandall & Pera Law. Our attorneys are available to help answer your questions and guide you in determining your next steps
New Technology Used to Stop Medication Errors