News & Events
Hospital Risk Managers Find Medication Error a Significant Problem; BD Survey Reveals Reporting Errors Not Rewarded
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Camilla Jenkins
Franklin Lakes, NJ (February 24, 2000) -- A new survey on medication error has found that nearly 98 percent of hospital risk managers and administrators polled agree that medication error is a significant problem in the U.S. health care system. But when asked if medication errors were a concern in their own institutions, 33 percent of respondents said medication error is not an overriding issue. When it comes to support for making medication errors known, 73 percent of the survey's participants do not believe that their hospital rewards people for reporting errors. These are among the major findings in a survey sponsored by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX - news), to determine awareness of the medical error problem in hospitals and the effectiveness of current medication error-reducing technologies. The survey polled 141 hospital risk managers and administrators at hospitals of varying size, including those with fewer than 200 beds (45 percent), with between 200 to 400 beds (38 percent) and with over 400 beds (17 percent). ``It is vital that the health care community be forward-looking as it confronts the medical error issue,'' said Sam Riccitelli, BD vice president and general manager. ``BD joins other health care leaders in advocating a culture of reporting, so that errors may be studied and systems designed to reduce the likelihood of their future occurrence.'' The majority of medication errors are linked to a failure to verify the ``Five Rights'' of medication delivery, namely, right patient, right time, right drug, right dose and right administration route, Riccitelli explained. A recent National Academy of Sciences study, which found between 44,000 and 98,000 people die each year in U.S. hospitals as a result of medical error, brought dramatic attention to the prevalence of medical error, prompting Congressional attention. Medication Error-Reducing Technologies Technology exists today that can reduce medication errors, but is not yet widely embraced by hospitals. Preliminary studies conducted by BD suggest that hand-held technologies could reduce medication and specimen errors by as much as two thirds. Rather than focusing on order entry and transcription errors, hand-held technologies target administration errors, which are widely recognized as one of the most significant sources of medication error. However, because the technology is so new, only 9 percent of hospitals surveyed had purchased hand-held technologies to reduce medication error. The survey also found that 45 percent of hospitals had purchased cabinet technology -- nursing station carts containing floor stocks of medications - and while 30 percent of hospitals had evaluated robot technology, only 9 percent had decided to purchase the technology. ``In an increasingly complex and mobile care-giving environment, some health care providers are being stretched to their limits attending to each patient's every prescription and specimen,'' said Riccitelli. ``The technology has to be economically accessible and user-friendly enough to encourage widespread adoption.'' Utilizing popular Palm Computing ™ technology, BD has developed two easy-to-use systems that automatically track and provide instant access to critical patient, drug and sample information. The BD Rx System tracks and reduces medication error throughout the process, from order to administration at bedside. Additionally, the system checks for allergies and drug-drug interactions to ensure that patients are receiving the safest care possible. Similarly, the BD Dx System helps to ensure that patient specimens are collected at the right time, correctly identified, and ultimately linked back to the patient and hospital's records. ``With over 8,000 drugs available for treatment at nearly 5,000 hospitals, the immediate access to information about patients and drugs is essential to the health care industry,'' said Riccitelli. ``Our BD Rx and Dx Systems are designed to streamline medication and specimen management processes, helping to substantially reduce medical mistakes.'' The BD Dx System has been adopted by a large Northeastern hospital, which is also in the process of implementing the BD Rx System. About BD BD manufactures and sells a broad range of medical supplies and devices and diagnostic systems for use by health professionals, medical research institutions, industry and the general public. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 1999, BD reported total revenues of $3.4 billion and net income of $276 million.
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