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Background: Intravenous (IV) medication errors are a common type of error identified in hospitals and can lead to considerable harm. Over the past 20 years there have been several hundred FDA reported incidents involving IV pumps, many of which have led to patient deaths. Objective: To determine the actual types, frequency, and severity of medication errors associated with IV pumps. To evaluate the likelihood that smart pump technology without an interface to other systems could have prevented errors. Methods: Using a point prevalence approach, investigators prospectively compared the medication, dose, and infusion rate on the IV pump with the prescribed medication, doses, and rate in the medical record. Preventability with smart pump technology was retrospectively determined based on a rigorous definition of currently available technology. Results: A total of 426 medications were observed infusing through an IV pump. Of these, 285 (66.9%) had one or more errors associated with their administration. There were 389 documented errors overall; 37 were ''rate deviation'' errors and three of these were judged to be due to a programming mistake. Most of the documented events would not have caused patient harm (NCC MERP category C). Only one error would have been prevented by smart pump technology without additional interface and software capabilities. Conclusion: Medication errors associated with IV pumps occur frequently, have the potential to cause harm, and are epidemiologically diverse. Smart pumps are a necessary component of a comprehensive safe medication system. However, currently available smart pumps will fail to generate meaningful improvements in patient safety until they can be interfaced with other systems such as the electronic medical record, computerized prescriber order entry, bar coded medication administration systems, and pharmacy information systems. Future research should focus on the effectiveness of new technology in preventing latent and active errors, and on new types of error that any technology can introduce.

Background: Adverse events (AEs) occur with alarming frequency in health care and can have a significant impact on both patients and caregivers. There is a pressing need to understand better the frequency, nature, and etiology of AEs, but currently available methodologies to identify AEs have significant limitations. We hypothesized that it would be possible to design a method to conduct real time active surveillance and conducted a pilot study to identify adverse events and medical errors. Methods: Records were selected based on 21 electronically obtained triggers, including abnormal laboratory values and high risk and antidote medications. Triggers were chosen based on their expected potential to signal AEs occurring during hospital admissions. Each AE was rated for preventability and severity and categorized by type of event. Reviews were performed by an interdisciplinary patient safety team. Results: Over a 3 month period 327 medical records were reviewed; at least one AE or medical error was identified in 243 (74%). There were 163 preventable AEs (events in which there was a medical error that resulted in patient harm) and 138 medical errors that did not lead to patient harm. Interventions to prevent or ameliorate harm were made following review of the medical records of 47 patients. Conclusions: This methodology of active surveillance allows for the identification and assessment of adverse events among hospitalized patients. It provides a unique opportunity to review events at or near the time of their occurrence and to intervene and prevent harm.

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