PITTSBURGH, September 1, 2005 — The groundbreaking Positive Patient Identification (PPID), which is expected to revolutionize health care by helping to reduce medical errors, has been implemented across all inpatient units at UPMC South Side Hospital. Most notable is that this will be the first time PPID has been used in an emergency department in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system.
“While every aspect of the UPMC electronic health record has improved health care quality, the PPID project delivers immediate safety and quality results at the point-of-care and in medication delivery,” said G. Daniel Martich, M.D., vice president of eRecord at UPMC.
According to Nancy Magee, president of UPMC South Side, PPID also will be used in same day surgery and the respiratory therapy departments of that facility. The PPID rollout at UPMC Montefiore and UPMC Presbyterian was completed in a phased approach from May 2004 through May 2005.
“We are proud that South Side is leading the way with patient safety using this revolutionary new system,” Ms. Magee said. “It has required a committed team effort from everyone here at South Side along with UPMC’s Information Services Department and the results are that patients will receive better care.”
PPID uses barcode technology to ensure the “five rights” of medication administration — that the right patient receives the right dose of the right medication by the right route at the right time. Barcodes are placed on employee badges, patient wristbands and dosage packets.
These barcodes are scanned by the nurse at the time of medication administration to verify that all five rights of medication administration are being met. PPID allows caregivers to safely administer medications at the patient bedside using innovative technology such as hand-held, wall-mounted and desktop PCs, as well as mobile medication carts equipped with wireless PCs.
"We are excited to be able to participate in such an important initiative to increase patient safety and PPID is a wonderful tool to help us do that,” said Lynn Kurhan, R.N., unit director of UPMC South Side’s emergency care center. “It does not replace our current methods of patient medication administration and identification but enhances them by giving everyone more confidence that we are doing the right thing."
A study of PPID use in medication administration across all inpatient units at UPMC Presbyterian resulted in a 55 percent decrease in the medication error rate and 98.6 percent compliance with the patient identification/medication administration process six months post-implementation.
PPID is a key component of the UPMC eRecord Program and is scheduled to be implemented at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC and UPMC Shadyside during fiscal year 2006.
UPMC was named one of the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems in the United States for the seventh year in a row according to the 2005 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study by Hospitals & Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association.
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