BUS 519 Project Risk Management Risk Management Plan

BUS 519 Project Risk Management Risk Management Plan

Introduction

The primary objective of the risk management approach is to mitigate medication errors, a complex and critical issue within the healthcare domain that poses significant threats to patient safety. Medication mistakes can result in severe repercussions for patients. A significant number of medication mistakes of a severe kind lead to avoidable adverse drug events (ADEs), with roughly 20% of these occurrences posing a danger to the patient’s life. The yearly mortality rate attributed to drug mistakes is estimated to be 7,000, as stated in the paper titled “To Err is Human” by the Institute of Medicine. Despite the diligent efforts of nurses, it has been shown that a significant proportion, namely over 40%, of adverse drug events (ADEs) that are severe in nature and pose a danger to life may be avoided with appropriate measures.

Significance of The Problem

Medication mistakes may lead to significant financial burdens. Adverse drug events (ADEs) contribute an annual sum of about $7.5 billion only to hospital expenses on a national scale. Moreover, it is worth noting that this particular statistic does not take into account other significant expenses associated with prescription mistakes, such as the premiums for malpractice insurance and the negative impact on workforce efficiency. Preventable adverse drug events (ADEs) may occur due to errors that arise in several phases, including ordering, administration, transcribing, and dispensing. According to Austin et al. (2022), more than 30% of these mistakes occur during the administration phase.

Barcode medication administration (BCMA) technology

Barcode medication administration (BCMA) technology is a recognized health information technology that has been attributed to the prevention of pharmaceutical mistakes and the enhancement of patient safety, provided that it is used with precision. The use of BCMA technology facilitates the verification process by the scanning of barcodes on both medicine and patient identification wristbands. This automation assists nurses in ensuring adherence to the fundamental principles of medication administration, often referred to as the ‘five rights’: patient identity, medication accuracy, dosage precision, appropriate administration route, and timely delivery.

Rationale

Hospitals have actively promoted the introduction of Barcode drug delivery (BCMA) as a preventive measure against the adverse outcomes associated with drug delivery mistakes. The efficacy of BCMA in mitigating pharmaceutical delivery mistakes and minimizing the adverse effects resulting from substantial medication errors has been well-documented. Prior research has also shown a rise in rates of patient identification verification after the implementation of the Barcode Medication Administration (BCMA) (Hogerwaard et al., 2023). Although BCMA has been in existence for more than twenty years, hospitals have encountered difficulties in integrating and executing it within their current infrastructure. Multiple studies have shown that the implementation process plays a crucial role in determining the overall effectiveness of BCMA.

Support

The introduction of BCMA (Barcode drug delivery) has shown significant efficacy in mitigating drug delivery mistakes. The deployment of BCMA-eMAR at an academic medical institution was examined in the research, which revealed a relative decrease of 41.1% in nontiming mistakes during medication administration. Consequently, there was a relative reduction of 50.8% in probable adverse drug events (ADEs) caused by these errors (Austin et al., 2022). The adoption of BCMA (Barcode drug delivery) in the Emergency Department (ED) has shown a significant decrease of 80.7% in drug delivery mistakes. The BCMA system has also been shown to provide financial advantages. The deployment of BCMA is associated with an approximate cost of $2,000 per prevented hazardous medication mistake, which is comparatively lower than the anticipated cost range of $3,100 to $7,400 for a detrimental error.

Implementation

The healthcare organization will establish a standardized framework for the implementation of BCMA in the hospital, with the assistance of a national panel of BCMA specialists. The healthcare organization’s standard will prioritize the adoption of four components of the BCMA. The implementation process will aim at promoting the level of BCMA adoption across various units within the hospital, specifically focusing on medical and/or surgical units, critical care units, and labor and delivery units. The hospital’s adherence to doing patient and drug scans at the bedside before medication admi