Accidents and Incidents Related to Intravenous Drug Administration: A Pre-Post Study Following Implementation of Smart Pumps in a Teaching Hospital

Introduction Smart pumps are expected to prevent and reduce medication errors. The implementation of smart pumps requires a significant effort and collaboration of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other stakeholders. Objectives The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of new smart pumps on reported drug-related accidents and incidents (AIs). Method This is a descriptive retrospective pre-post study conducted at a women's and pediatric hospital with 500 beds. A strong multidisciplinary team (nurse, pharmacist, pharmacy resident, physician, biomedical technician, information technology technician, patient safety officer, manager) was involved in the planning, implementation, and monitoring technology implementation. A total of 1045 smart pumps were implemented in 2011 in our hospital. The reported number of AIs related to intravenous drug administration (AIIV) before and after the implementation of 1045 smart pumps were collected. Results A total of 2911 AI events related to medications, devices, and equipment were self-reported by clinical staff in the pre-phase (Y0), 3523 in the post-phase (Y1), and 2788 in the post-phase (Y2). The total AIIV increased from 1432 in Y0 to 1834 in Y1 and decreased to 1389 in Y2. Conclusions We observed no risk reduction associated with the implementation of smart pumps in a 500 bed mother-child hospital. Further studies are required to explore the details of the potential risk reduction associated with the use of smart pumps.