Smart Pumps Vendors Woefully Behind on EMR Integration

    OREM, UT, April 12, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Despite years of discussion and promises, KLAS reports that fewer than 10 providers in the country are yet doing EMR integration with their smart pump vendors--even though over half consider it key to future pump selection. In addition, only 60 percent of providers are live on wireless technology, which is required for EMR integration.

Report author Coray Tate commented, "Providers are looking at EMR integration as the next big step to make infusions safer. Drug libraries catch most errors, but mistakes can still be made." Twenty-three percent of surveyed organizations reported serious medication incidents in the past 24 months and 60 percent of those were made while using drug libraries. EMR integration with auto-programming would help eliminate those types of programming errors.

Respondent satisfaction was tied to their vendor's technology development. Smart pump vendors Baxter, Carefusion, and Hospira led in wireless technology. B. Braun and Smiths Medical just received FDA approval, but still have few on wireless.

Those using wireless pumps were reportedly much more likely to be using smart pump report data and monitoring drug library compliance. Tate mentioned, "Without wireless you don't know what you don't know. You are essentially static and your ability to adjust your libraries and processes is greatly reduced. Getting to wireless is an important step in safer infusions."

For discussion on where EMR and smart pump vendors are in development, the report "Smart Pumps 2012: Wireless Technology and EMR Integration" is available to healthcare providers online for a significant discount off the standard retail price. To purchase, healthcare providers and vendors can visit www.KLASresearch.com/reports.

KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting on the performance of healthcare vendors. KLAS' mission is to improve delivery by independently measuring vendor performance worldwide for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors. Working together with executives from more than 4500 hospitals and more than 2500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends, and statistics that provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry. KLAS measures performance of software, professional services, medical equipment, and infrastructure vendors. For more information, go to www.KLASresearch.com, email [email protected], or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative. Follow KLAS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KLASresearch.

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