CDEX (Old)

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CDEX/VALIMED TV Channel 6 Omaha, Nebraska.

Methodist Hospital

http://www.wowt.com/news/features/2/1783826.html

Getting The Meds Right

New machine lends electronic hand
I-V medicines don't always come in kid-sizes and that means pharmacists have to mix the drugs themselves. State-of-the-art technology is helping one pharmacist get the dosage just right.

Pharmacist Jim Stevenson says a blue machine that now sits on his pharmacy's countertop provides peace of mind.

"Particularly in a pediatric hospital where you've got high-risk drugs and very small patients," he says.

Pharmacists who mix millions of doses know that even the smallest mistake can be deadly but ValiMed takes human error out of the equation.

Stevenson says, "We put a small sample of the product we want to test into the device. It shoots ultraviolet light at the sample."

The machine compares the sample to what's called the "fingerprint" of that particular medication. If the dose is mixed just right, the machine's confirms that.

Stevenson says, "This technology was initially devised to help detect explosive devices with homeland security."

The University of Michigan's Children's Hospital is the first hospital in the country to use the technology to double-check medicine.

Phil Mapes' 15-year-old daughter Meggan is a heart patient who receives several high-risk medications and Phil says, "It's comforting to know that they're taking the extra step."

The pharmacy is still in the process of adding new medications to the system.



Supplemental Information

Fast Facts

· About 16 percent of Americans have experienced a prescription drug error affecting themselves or a family member.

· More than 20 percent of drug errors have serious consequences.

· Medication errors can occur at any point between the time the drug is prescribed and given to the patient.

· ValiMed is a system to verify a medication sample based on a unique fluorescent fingerprint produced by a drug.

Medication Errors in the U.S.
A medication error is defined as the unintentional administration or use of a drug that could potentially cause harm to the patient. The error may involve providing the wrong drug, giving the wrong dose, administering the wrong form (for example, direct injection of a medication meant to be diluted in an intravenous solution), or not providing medication at the right time.

According to a survey by the Commonwealth Fund, about 16 percent of Americans have experienced a prescription drug error or have a family member who experienced an error. In about 20 percent of cases, the mistake caused a serious problem for the affected patient (like prolonged hospitalization or death).

There are many steps involved from the time a physician orders a prescription until the patient gets the drug. A medication error can be made at any point in the process. Written prescription orders may not be legible, causing a patient to get the wrong drug, wrong dose, or wrong method or timing or administration. Verbal orders may also cause confusion when the pharmacist mistakes sound-alike drugs. Nurses may pull the wrong medication from the shelf or fail to verify the correct medication/dose/route with the patient's chart. Use of abbreviations can cause further confusion and increase the chance of a drug mix-up.

The ValiMedT System
All those involved in providing medications to patients are supposed to double-check each prescription order before giving the patient the medication. However, the best-planned systems can still lead to mistakes. Even computerized checks can be imperfect due to human error.

Researchers have developed a new type of drug checking system to verify the correct medication in a prepared drug sample. The technology, called ValiMedT, was first developed to detect explosives. The ValiMed sits on the countertop of the pharmacy. When a medication is mixed, a tiny sample is placed in the machine. ValiMed flashes an ultraviolet light onto the drug. When exposed to the light, the molecules in the sample produce a pattern of fluorescent energy. Every drug has a unique pattern of fluorescence, creating a drug fingerprint. The ValiMed reads the fluorescent fingerprint and compares it against known drug fingerprints in a data library. If the test doesn't show a match, the sample is retested. If the drug can't be validated in the second attempt, it's sent back to the lab.

The University of Michigan Health System is the first hospital in the world to use ValiMed for verifying the identity of prescription drugs. The hospital pharmacy is currently using the system to test 10 commonly used high-risk drugs that are specially prepared for children. Other drugs will be added to the database in the future. For information about the ValiMed system, log on to the website at http://www.valimed.com/.
Web Resources

· ValiMed