Smart and safe AMiS medication solution at Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital
All 11 clinical departments of the Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital (CWZ) in Nijmegen switched to a completely new digital medication process. This way, the hospital aims to further increase medication safety for patients and staff while automating and optimising the medication distribution process. What has inspired this new, automated medication process? Project leader Eric Claassen and Application and Project Coordinator Saba lylia explain.
More modern medication carts and software
“The majority of Patient Care Incident reports in the Netherlands are related to the medication process. Many of these incidents are linked to the time of administration. The wrong medication, the wrong dosage. We wanted to minimise the chances of that”, Eric says. “What also came into play was the fact that our medication carts were outdated. We were keen to upgrade them to a more modern version in accordance with new standards”, Saba adds. A good opportunity to switch to a new system that meets the new standards. “Medication is under the magnifying glass. And the rules will only get stricter in the future, you can feel that in your bones”, stresses project leader Eric Claassen. Safety was therefore paramount in this process.
‘We want to record everything properly,
so we now automate it’
Safer for patient, nurse and pharmaceutical worker
To achieve a closed-loop construction, the hospital opted for modern medication carts. To this was added an automated double-check using a medication scanner. “We want to record everything properly, so we now automate it”, Eric says. This is safer for the patient, but also for the nurse and pharmaceutical staff. Another advantage: with automated registration, we are partly filling the gap created by the staff shortage.”
The best solution
AMiS’ medication solution was the best solution, Eric says. “First of all, for the sake of security, you can assign a patient a personal medication drawer. During the medication round, the nurse scans the patient’s wristband, which automatically opens that patient’s administration screen in the Electronic Health Record (EHR). At the touch of a button, the corresponding patient-specific medication drawer then opens. Moreover, we can expand the medication cart in the future, e.g. with vital signs monitors. It will then become a complete care station for nursing staff.”
The medication process as a whole is faster
The nurses and pharmacy staff are happy with the new situation. However nurses did have to get used to the fact that one medication drawer opens at a time. And that it takes a few seconds before the care station is started up after logging in with the pass. Eric: “The wait may feel like a delay. But the medication process as a whole does go faster.”
Watch this video to see how CWZ works with the AMiS:
Smart and safe medication solution?
Our smart medication solution consists of the mobile care station AMiS-PRO with medication solution
MedSafe Individual. The AMiSconnect software fully connects the AMiS-PRO with the EHR.
How does it work?
The healthcare worker links a drawer of the AMiS-PRO to a patient via the EHR and fills it with the appropriate medication. During the medication round, the nurse scans the patient’s wristband, which
automatically opens that patient’s administration screen in the EHR. At the touch of a button, the patient-specific medication drawer then opens. This makes the risk of medication errors
extremely small and makes the workflow for nurses much safer and more efficient.
“At the touch of a button, the patient’s medication drawer opens.”
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