Written by Laurie Blount, Director of Medical Device Integration, Iatric Systems
As the Manager of Patient Care Device Integration at Iatric Systems, hospital staff often ask me “With my tight IT budget and so many competing initiatives, how can I justify the spend for smart pump interoperability?” Recently, I came across an interesting article by HCA IT&S Division Director Application Development, Sean Albert, Five Reasons to Implement IV Pump Interoperability. This article discusses value justification for Smart Pump EHR Interoperability.
In addition to the standard ROI considerations hospitals look at for this solution, regarding error avoidance, charge capture, documentation, and time savings for the nurses, Sean inserts “patient satisfaction” onto the list, and he points out how the efficiencies and ADE avoidance influenced by this solution reduces patient stresses, thus creating an environment more conducive to healing.
In my role at Iatric Systems, I’m often speaking to the hard dollar savings to help hospitals fund and justify the spend. But, having worked hand-in-hand with clinicians over the course of my career, I know that patient satisfaction, while high on hospital’s priority list, is a more difficult ROI to measure and initiatives to improve patient satisfaction may get pushed down in priority. Keeping patients calm and as happy as possible is a key component of offering the best patient care, and therefore improving clinical outcomes and efficiencies.
Error Prevention is another reason from Albert’s post that resonated with me. Any time you have manual entry, as is the case with Smart Pumps, there are bound to be errors. As Albert points out, ‘Out-of-date libraries and staff who choose to circumvent safety mechanisms contribute to errors.’ Interoperability, where pumps receive programming as ordered in the EHR can reduce these errors. I am sure that the patients impacted by wrong infusion numbers would vote in favor of interoperability. Patient safety is never an area for compromise.
So, what do you think about the “softer” ROI, but equally important aspect of patient satisfaction as a result of pump interoperability? Should patient satisfaction and patient safety push IV pump interoperability to the top of the priority list? I invite you to join the conversation and comment, below.
If you need more help with ROI justification, you can download this eBook “4 Ways to Cost Justify Medical Device Integration”
