by
Nancy Ryerson, Staff Writer | May 20, 2013
From the May 2013 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
While the major infusion pump players offer pumps capable of integrating, EMR/EHR vendors have been slower to join in the field.
“Due to the software enhancements and implementation work the EMR vendors need to complete to help their customers achieve Meaningful Use, most of the EMR vendors have not fully prioritized resources against the smart pump integration projects,” says Eric Sato, senior director of marketing at Baxter.
Cerner and Epic are EMR vendors with live sites. Siemens, McKesson and Meditech are currently in talks with customers.
Bernie Nikolski, clinical engineer at Saratoga Hospital in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. advises finding vendors that have worked on similar projects and are familiar with the HER or pump systems the facility uses or plans to use. He uses the middleware company Accent on Integration, which works with Meditech.
He also recommends contacting peers for tips. “I think the biggest advice is just to reach out to other hospitals and find out who’s done it, find out what’s a good process to follow through,” says Nikolski.
Smart pumps graduate to smart hospitals
Even once they’re linked in, school is still in session for smart pumps. EHR integrated pumps will someday be part of a larger “smart hospital” system, with pieces like patient monitors and hospital beds connected as well.
Altogether, one recent report from the West Health Institute estimates that improving interoperability between medical device systems in hospitals can save up to $30 billion a year, with $2 billion in savings coming from avoided adverse events and $12 billion from increased clinical productivity. That statistic alone suggests that facilities will be pushing for more device-EHR integration sooner rather than later. Even if current progress is only plodding along, pump integration is inevitable, experts say.
“It’s going to follow how wireless was,” says Tate of KLAS. “It was, ‘oh it would be nice to have,’ and now it’s seen as a part of the system. How long it takes to get there, we’ll have to wait to see, but I think we’ll pick up momentum as we’re going on.”
DOTmed Registered DMBN May 2013 - Infusion pumps Companies
Names in boldface are Premium Listings.
Domestic
Anwar Abdelqader, CBE Medical, Inc. , CA
DOTmed Certified
Randy Lowers, L & R Services, FL
DOTmed Certified
Dominick McCann, Mobile Medical Maintenance, IN
Eric Ebejer, Argo Surgical Repair Svcs., MI
Sarah Stem, J2S Medical, LLC, OH
International
Danny Raiz, versatile, Australia
Rick Meerkerk, Mediproma B.V., Netherlands
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