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Technologies to support a reduction in medication errors

Drug libraries can help mitigate the risk of medication errors by applying safety limits to infusion therapies.

Within the NHS, we have seen the introduction of e-prescribing. The introduction of this technology has had a huge effect on reducing the proportion of medication errors at prescription, from 39% of all medication errors in 2015 to 8.5% in 2019.^[1] In 2018 medication errors at the point of care accounted for 78.6% of all reported medication errors.^[1]

B. Braun’s Space^plus platform combines intuitive and clear infusion devices with DoseGuard Dose Error Reduction Software to help mitigate the risk of medication errors. 

DoseTrac reporting

The DoseTracplus application provides a broad range of real-time infusion data sets. These can provide insights into where the drug library has supported the prevention of potential medication errors. 

In addition to this, the reports can also provide insights into any actions that may be required to maintain high compliance and effectivity to support patient safety. The information generated by DoseTracplus reports can help identify where targeted education may be required to aid clinical staff in the correct use of the drug library.

As practice evolves within the clinical environment, drug libraries also need to be updated to ensure they remain properly aligned to pharmacy policy and clinical practice. DoseTracplus reports can be analysed to assess and identify areas in which drug library optimisation may be required. 

Software uploads

The ability to connect Spaceplus infusion devices to a hospital's network enables the remote upload of drug libraries, configuration files, and disposable files. Remote uploads are significantly faster than physically locating and updating each pump and can be done without interruption to clinical workflows. This yields resource efficiency gains and most importantly can help improve governance by greatly helping to reduce the time in which the hospital has multiple live versions. 

Technology supporting safety

Space^plus; supporting a reduction in medication errors at the point of care:

• Enables the hospital to define medication and therapy standards for different patient profiles and care units.
• Can define and visualise individualised safety-limits to support the prevention of potential dosing errors.
• Facilitates the remote upload of drug library data via the hospital’s network without interrupting clinical workflows.
• Provides infusion data insights through DoseTracplus reports.