Alcidion partners with Better by Marand to combat medication...

Alcidion partners with Better by Marand to combat medication errors

By Meagan Cameron

Posted April 9, 2019

In General News, Products

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Alcidion is partnering with Slovenia-based healthcare provider Better by Marand to resell their OPENeP solution in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, to combat medication-related harm across the world.

Unsafe medication practices and medication errors continue to be the leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in healthcare systems around the world:

• The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Australian Hospital Statistics 2012-13 reported adverse drug events at 2.4 per 100 discharges. Clinical errors with prescribing were observed at a rate of 0.2 per patient in the largest study undertaken across 22 sites.
• Medication error is the cause of an estimated 2,247 deaths per year in New Zealand. It was reported that medication-related events prolonged hospital admissions by a mean of 7.8 days; that 43.9% of cases were preventable; and 12.3% resulted in permanent disability or death[1].
• In the United Kingdom, a paper that examined medication related incidents identified 6.5 actual and 5.5 potential adverse drug events per 100 admissions, a significant number of which were preventable. The majority of the preventable adverse events were associated with medication ordering (56%) or administration (34%)[2].

To help reduce the number of adverse medication events, Alcidion has signed an agreement with Better by Marand to add their OPENeP solution to the Alcidion Application Portfolio. OPENeP is a closed loop electronic medication management system that enables proper adherence to medication administration such as the delivering the right dosage to the right patient at the right time and provides clinical decision support for complex prescribing scenarios including order sets, IVs, titration and anti-microbial stewardship.

One of the significant benefits of OPENeP for hospitals is that doctors, nurses and pharmacists will no longer rely on paper records or writing prescriptions by hand, with all medication management information stored and readily available via computer devices. Clinical staff can also receive proactive alerts when entering orders that could cause patient harm, like interaction with an existing medication or the wrong dose.

Kate Quirke, Group Managing Director at Alcidion, said that OPENeP will extend its solution portfolio to address this key clinical activity and to complement its existing workflows.

“Medications data is a critical element of the information required to improve patient safety and healthcare delivery. By adding this to our existing capabilities, we can offer our customers the opportunity to implement a modern medication management solution alongside our Miya Precision platform.

“When combined with our electronic observations and clinical documentation solution, Patientrack, and Smartpage, for clinical communication, our customers will have access to a modern, mobile, EMR platform with enhanced decision support capabilities.”

Roko Malkoč, OPENeP Product Manager, said:

“Patients should be the focus, and it is in their interest to always get accurate treatment of the highest quality. By collaborating with Alcidion, we aim to create an environment that maximises patient safety, improves collaboration among staff, and prevents unnecessary errors. All this will lead to better patient outcomes.”

OPENeP provides easy integration options and is deployed at two hospitals in Slovenia, the Institute of Oncology and the HIMSS EMRAM Level 6 University Children’s Hospital. It has also been selected by two National Health Service (NHS) organisations in the United Kingdom, the Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and Plymouth NHS Trust, as part of its ambitious programme of digitisation.

[1] Davis P, et al, “Adverse events in New Zealand public hospitals”[2] Bates DW et al. Incidence of Adverse Drug Events and Potential Adverse Drug Events Implications for Prevention. JAMA 1995; 274:29–34.