Monday, December 7, 2009
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Midday Symposium
Venetian Hotels & Sands Expo Center
Palazzo Ballroom E, Level 5
Integrating Technology to Improve Medication-Use and Patient Safety
Overview
This symposium will provide a discussion of integrating technology in the medication-use process, including bedside barcode and infusion device technologies with point-of-care decision support for health care systems. With the swift evolution of sophisticated information systems that allow for wireless interface with electronic medical records (eMAR) and point of care technologies, more health care systems across the country are evaluating and implementing these systems to improve patient safety and decrease medication errors. Pharmacists practicing in health systems should be key players and decision makers involved in the evaluation and selection of the numerous technologies available. It is imperative, therefore, that health-system pharmacists remain abreast of new and evolving tools and technologies that can improve clinical outcomes in their patients. The focus of this activity is to provide an overview of best practices in using technologies with point-of-care decision support (i.e. intelligent infusion pumps and bedside point-of-care bar code verification) and the impact that integration and implementation of such technology can have on medication-use and ultimately patient safety. An automated audience response system (ARS) will be used to facilitate active learning and application of knowledge to practice.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this knowledge-based educational activity, participants should be able to
- Discuss the need for systems integration in the medication-use process in health systems.
- List and discuss at least two benefits of implementing intravenous infusion pump technologies with point-of-care decision support.
- Describe several examples of improvements to patient care resulting from integration of bar code technology.
- Discuss pharmacy practices and technologies that support bedside point-of-care bar code scanning.
- Identify at least three benefits that can be achieved by implementing full bi-directional system integration with existing and future medication safety technologies.