Whenever a hospital takes on a Smart Pump EHR integration (SPEHRI) project, there are usually measurable goals or outcomes around compliance and patient safety initiatives that are initially established to determine if the project is a success. It’s important to establish the primary goal along with the best way to measure success.

The issue of drug diversion in healthcare is a major problem, with considerable consequences. What many may not know, is how prevalent this problem is and what impact the pandemic may have on it. Drug diversion puts the patient, the diverting employee, and the facility, at risk for harm and financial losses. It is speculated that many cases of stolen controlled substances either go undetected or unreported.

Prevalence

Drug diversion has continued to be a major problem in healthcare, one that has considerable consequences. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem has continued to become more and more prevalent.

The history of telehealth is one that is much longer than some might think. There are examples from both 1879 and 1925 in which magazines from the time displayed articles about doctors using the telephone to reduce unnecessary office visits as well as a cover image showing a doctor diagnosing a patient by radio.¹

Fast forward to the present and there are more technologies available for healthcare as well as advances in communication technology. With these new technologies, more people are getting access to healthcare that normally would not, especially in rural communities.

The World Health Organization recently conducted its first global report on sepsis, finding that sepsis causes one in five deaths worldwide. Sepsis has a higher yearly mortality rate than AIDS, breast cancer, and prostate cancer, yet very few people outside of healthcare are aware of this condition. Additionally, sepsis contributes to nearly half of all hospital deaths in the U.S and is responsible for a total of approximately $7.2 billion of Medicare payments to hospitals.

Drug diversion among healthcare workers is ultimately underestimated, undetected and under-reported. According to Porter Research, roughly nine out of ten healthcare professionals have met or know someone who has diverted drugs, and 40 percent of hospitals lack programs to prevent this commonality from happening.

In the world of clinical relationships, the EHR might be your number one frenemy. You can try to play nice together, but there’s a fundamental dislike for this system when it all boils down. But don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Did you know how a patient copes with pain after surgery can impact their recovery? Many hospitals are using patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps because it can make a recovery easier for the patient, alleviate nursing staff of frequently administering medication, and deliver additional benefits. In this blog, we’ll discuss those benefits and share studies of how PCA impacts patients and hospitals alike.

Smart pumps have been widely adopted into the healthcare space, and for a good reason. The potential for improved patient safety, time savings for nurses, and increased revenue should put Smart Pump EHR Integration (SPEHRI) near the top of every hospital’s priority list. But what exactly is SPHERI, and how does it directly impact your nurses on a daily basis?