As reported in "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System", medical errors account for between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths annually in the United States.  The cost of these preventable adverse events is estimated at between 17 and 29 billion dollars annually.  For drug administration, the final opportunity to ensure patient safety is at the patient's bedside.  Recognizing that fact, CPSI developed Medication Administration Verification - a fully integrated and wireless point of care method for safer medication administration.  

Whether a patient's medication order is placed by a physician through ChartLink or entered in the Pharmacy, the medication is prescreened by the Pharmacy Drug Therapy Monitoring module for possible patient allergies and/or drug interactions.  Medication Administration Verification is designed to take patient safety a step further by providing a final check at administration.  The key to verification is bar code identification.  

Patient armbands produced by CPSI's Automated Registration Documentation System bear a bar code that identifies the patient and a bar code on medications identifies the individual medication and dosage.  Some medications bear bar coded NDC numbers pre-printed by the supplier, for other medications, the CPSI Pharmacy Application prints the NDC bar code on the order label.  To perform a verification, the patient's armband is scanned first and then the medication.  The system then compares the medication to the patient's medication profile of outstanding orders ensuring that the specific medication and dosage was in fact ordered for the patient.  In the event a corresponding medication order is not found for the patient, the system will return a message indicating that a potential error is about to occur.  For clients utilizing our Multi-disciplinary Point of Care Documentation, the application allows full medication documentation during the administration/charting process.

CPSI provides two hardware options for bedside Medication Administration Verification.  The software has been designed for use with personal data assistants configured with wireless communication and an integrated bar code scanner.  Verification may also be performed via the bar code scanner available on mobile care stations.