Everything Begins and Ends with Patient Safety

National Patient Safety Awareness Week 2018

Susan Niemeier, MHA, BSN, RN Chief Nursing Officer

Patient safety is a top priority today and every day. National Patient Safety Awareness Week, March 11 to 17, reinforces this dedication to keep patients safe and free from harm.

Ivenix believes that everyone plays a role in patient safety— providers, vendors, patients and families – are all empowered to make every aspect of healthcare safer. After all, WE ARE ALL PATIENTS. As an infusion innovator, we are proud to partner with The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in promoting this important goal— especially this week through IHI’s United for Patient Safety campaign.

Did you know that infusions are the source of a significant number of adverse drug events? More than 50% of the 1.5 million adverse drug events reported to the FDA annually are due to infusion pump errors. Over 23,000 pump malfunctions result in patient injuries as reported to the FDA MAUDE database from 2015 to 2017. And, infusion devices account for up to 61% of all medication errors that result in significant harm.

These are sobering statistics and need to change. From its beginning, Ivenix has pledged to address infusion problems and to make a difference in ensuring that infusions do no harm. We take the commitment seriously.

Patient safety affects everyone, and we must all be part of the solution. We applaud IHI’s efforts to champion patient safety to a broad audience and to work for a solution from a global perspective.