The AAMI Foundation has published a new “quick guide” aimed at healthcare executives. Optimizing Patient Outcomes: Questions Senior Hospital Leaders Should Ask About Infusion Therapy Safety, which is the first in a series of four to be produced by the AAMI Foundation, is intended to inform hospital C-suite executives on the importance of supporting efforts to improve patient safety—and reduce costs—through the proper use of smart infusion pump technology.

Medical errors are responsible for $17–29 billion in costs each year, much of it due to adverse drug events. Smart infusion pumps can improve patient safety and reduce costs if they are used appropriately. But that’s not always the case—ECRI Institute ranked infusion errors as the top health technology hazard to watch out for in 2017, citing misplaced trust in advanced safety features.

“Medication therapy continues to be the No.1 problem causing adverse events in hospitals,” says Marilyn Neder Flack, executive director of the AAMI Foundation and AAMI’s senior vice president for patient safety initiatives. “This, the first of our quick guides, is an invaluable resource for leadership in hospitals and healthcare organizations to improve infusion therapy safety.”

Safety experts from hospitals, manufacturers, national healthcare organizations, academia, and consultants who are members of the AAMI Foundation’s National Coalition for Infusion Therapy Safety developed the infusion therapy quick guide.

It uses a question-and-answer format to guide leaders through the issues they should be considering, such as:

  • Are we adopting a systems approach to infusion therapy safety?
  • Are we optimizing the management of our drug libraries to improve infusion therapy safety?
  • Are we providing adequate funding, time, training, and resources to enable staff to improve infusion therapy safety?
  • Are we effectively managing our infusion pump alarms to reduce alarm/alert fatigue without adversely affecting patient safety?
  • Are we optimizing multiple-line infusion therapy safety?

Optimizing Patient Outcomes: Questions Senior Hospital Leaders Should Ask about Infusion Therapy Safety is available to download for free here.