Medication Safety Practices with Smart Infusion Pumps and Automated Systems: A Review Study

Abstract

Background: Administration errors of medicines (MAEs), primarily those through intravenous (IV) therapy, impose significant risk for patient safety and cause adverse drug events (ADEs) and increased mortality rates. Medication infusion pumps that are smart with dose error reduction systems (DERS), along with automated solutions with electronic health record (EHR) interoperability, aim to prevent the same threats.

Aim: This analysis assesses the effectiveness of smart pumps and automated systems at preventing MAEs, reveals barriers and facilitators for implementation, and suggests optimization recommendations.

Methods: A systematic search of the databases of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and CENTRAL (2010–2024) was conducted with regard to hospital studies of automated and smart pumps. Error minimization, compliance, alert fatigue, and implementation strategies were taken as data.

Results: Up to an 80% decrease in MAEs was seen with smart pumps, and hard limits avoided severe overdoses. Interoperability decreased error rates by 15.4–90.5%. Drawbacks are alert fatigue, 75.8% of soft alert overrides, and drug library non-compliance.

Conclusion: Automated systems and smart pumps increase the safety of IV drugs, and non-compliance and alert fatigue hamper efficiency. Standardized drug libraries, education, and interoperability are the optimization solution.