Citizens Memorial Hospital | Vitality | Spring 2018

citizensmemorial.com 15 COMMUNITY TAGLINE HERE You finally made the decision to move your mom into a long-term care facility. Although she lived in the house where you grew up, since your dad died it has been difficult for your mom to maintain her independence. It was a difficult decision, but she was unsteady on her feet, repeatedly in and out of the hospital, and forgetting to take her medications. You wanted to find a home where your mom could be safe and have a quality life. MEDICATION SAFETY Safety is an important focus in healthcare. Adverse drug events (ADE)—injuries resulting from medical interventions related to medications—can include medication errors, adverse drug reactions, allergic reactions and overdoses. ADEs can happen anywhere, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, and outpatient settings according to health.gov . A research study conducted from 2008 to 2012 by the Office of Inspector General examined adverse events in hospitals and skilled nursing post-acute care facilities. The results concluded that 22 percent of Medicare recipients experienced adverse events. Of the 22 percent, 37 percent of the events were related to medication. “We want to ensure we are providing a safe, efficient and effective medication delivery system,” says Tim Francka, administrative director of long-term care east for Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation in Bolivar. “And Barcode Medication Verification (BMV) is one way we ensure we meet these goals. We are fortunate to have the technology and software to support the BMV process.” Citizens Memorial Hospital and CMH long-term care facilities established its BMV program more than 10 years ago to reduce medication errors. The CMH BMV program ensures patients receive the correct medication, in the right dose, every time—which reduces ADEs. Upon admission to a CMH long- term care facility, the resident gets their picture taken, which is used to identify him/her in the BMV LONG-TERM CARE SAFETY BMV reduces errors For more information about CMH long-term care facilities, call 417-399-1818 . CMH long-term care facilities established its Barcode Medication Verification (BMV) programmore than 10 years ago to reduce medication errors. process. When the photo is printed, it includes a barcode that corresponds to the resident’s account number. When administering medication, the registered medication technician (RMT) is required to see the resident and scan his or her photo with the barcode for positive identification. During the process, a message will appear on the computer screen to indicate that the account is verified. If a medication is scanned that does not match an order, the tech will receive an error message. Once all the correct medication orders are scanned, the RMT will administer the medications, file the information and start the process again with the next resident. Last year, all seven CMH long- term care and residential care facilities administered more than 3.4 million medications to residents. Each time a medication was given, the process included BMV. Utilizing this technology has reduced medication errors to less than .0013 percent of all medications administered each year. SENIOR CARE