New IV pumps promise streamlined education and training, more efficient integration with Epic, costs savings AND improved patient safety

Almost a year ago, as part of the ongoing Partners 2.0 efforts, Partners HealthCare set out in search of a new IV pump for large volume intravenous infusions that could be implemented system-wide. With direct input from an interdisciplinary group including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, biomedical, IT and supply chain professionals, a decision has been reached: the Baxter Spectrum IQ pump.

Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services Cori Loescher, MM, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, Biomedical Engineering Manager Alyssa Merkle, Program Manager Informatics for Nursing/Patient Care Services Paula Wolski, MSN, RN, CCRN, and Nursing Professional Development Instructor Philip Malleson, BSN, RN-BC, were all involved in the decision-making process. However, the real decision was made by nurses and staff members at each Partners institution who participated in a vendor day where they were able to evaluate each of the options under consideration.

Click here to read more about the selection process.

The Baxter Spectrum IQ pump will be implemented throughout Brigham Health first. Merkle says in addition to streamlined education and training, more efficient integration with Epic and costs savings, the new pumps will be a huge step forward for BWFH when it comes to patient safety. “The real goal is to decrease IV medication errors,” she says. “With BWFH’s current pump, everything is manually put into the pump, which can lead to errors. The Baxter pump is able to pull directly from Epic, which reduces the chances of an IV medication error.”