Nurses Want Medical Devices to Be More Connected

The Gary and Mary West Health Institute has estimated that connected medical devices could save the U.S. healthcare system $30 billion a year.

Chris Newmarker

Most U.S. nurses--74%--say it is burdensome to coordinate the data collected by medical devices including everything from infusion pumps, ventilators, pulse oximeters, blood pressure cuffs to electronic health records, according to a recent online survey conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of the Gary and Mary West Health Institute.

Half of the 526 nurses surveyed across the U.S. have witnessed a medical error resulting from a lack of coordination among medical devices in a hospital setting. Three in five (60%) believe such errors could be significantly reduced if devices were connected and shared data with each other automatically.

The West Institute has previously estimated that a system of connected devices could save U.S. healthcare $30 billion a year through reduced redundant testing, manual data entry and transcription errors. A study from Patient Safety America has estimated that incomplete medical records cause harm to 400,000 patients annually.

"Nurses are the front line of patient care and have an unrivaled ability to identify and address problems at the intersection of patients and technology," said Joseph Smith, MD, West Health Institute's chief medical and science officer, said in a news release.

"The survey helps show how much of a nurse's time could be better spent in direct care of patients and families, and how errors could be potentially avoided if medical devices, which have been so successful at improving patient care, were able to take the next step and seamlessly share critical information around the patient's bedside."

Harris Poll conducted the weighted survey from January 7 to 16.  It included nurses credentialed at RN or higher, with an education of BSN or higher, all working in non-school settings.

Said one nurse who participated in the anonymous poll: "I have seen many instances where numbers were incorrectly transcribed or put in reverse or put in the wrong column when typed manually, which can cause errors."

Two out of three nurses in the survey said manually transcribing data is very likely to take time away from patients who need attention.

The study should draw further attention to a U.S. healthcare system that remains so expensive that it is hurting the nation's competitiveness on the global market. While Obamacare may be a controversial and ultimately less-than-satisfactory solution to the problem, the legislation--along with the general unaffordability of healthcare--is putting pressure on hospitals and healthcare companies to play a role in bringing costs down for healthcare writ large.

Whether it is telemedicine, wearables, digital health, mobile health, telehealth or virtual health, connected technology will be used by health providers to better track the costliest patients with chronic diseases. Find out more about efforts to improve healthcare for the costliest patients.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

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