Workflow collaboration tool helps hospitals locate possible diverters with accuracy
Workflow collaboration tool helps hospitals locate possible diverters with accuracy
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kit Check, the leader in automated medication management solutions for hospitals, today announced the addition of a new feature to its Bluesight for Controlled Substances (BCS) medication tracking and diversion risk detection platform: Investigation Portfolios. Bluesight for Controlled Substances’ Investigation Portfolios tool was designed to support ASHP investigation guidelines by enabling diversion committee investigators to collaborate throughout the process and by ensuring thorough, unbiased investigations through adherence to the hospital’s established procedures.
The Investigation Portfolios dashboard is accessed within the Bluesight for Controlled Substances application, and shows the status, reasons, and dates for all active investigations. Throughout the course of the investigation, users can attach documentation, interview notes, and reports in the tool, as well as policies and procedures and other key documents relative to the case to ensure that state and federal guidelines and mandates are being met.
“Investigations are challenging and are something that is a bit outside of our comfort zone as healthcare professionals,” said Marsha Shaw, Inpatient Pharmacy Director for Dayton Children’s Hospital. “Understanding the various aspects of a drug diversion investigation can be difficult. Training staff on which team members need to be brought in internally and knowing what external requirements need to be met take away from providing care from patients. It’s a complex management of information on a very serious subject.”
A recent survey conducted by Kit Check showed that 47 percent of hospitals have experienced a diversion event in the past six months, with 80 percent experiencing such an event in the last two years. Investigating suspected diversion is a challenging task that requires immediate, consistent response and action in order to identify a potential diverter and maintain the safety of the hospital’s patients and the community at large. Kit Check works with hospitals to define the steps in their processes, and checklists are included to make sure investigations are consistent.
Many hospitals have an investigation process in place, but these often involve manual review of records by managers in several different departments. All too often, diversion investigators encounter pitfalls, such as the inability to implement written policies, procedures, and standards; inconsistent treatment and follow-through for at-risk employees; ineffective interviewing processes, unclear requirements and lack of transparency; and disconnected sources for auditing past investigations.
“The Investigation Portfolios tool allows our hospital partners to take action and accurately see when an employee is diverting, and when he or she just may need some re-education on the processes for controlled substances,” said Samir Neyazi, Bluesight for Controlled Substances Product Manager at Kit Check. “It’s another tool for hospitals to use in the fight against the opioid crisis, and to keep their patients and staff safe.”
BCS was created to provide visibility and insight into the large amounts of data that come from the hospitals’ ADCs and EMR. The source-system agnostic platform provides 100% audit of the OR and nursing floors, allowing hospitals to get ahead of diversion events before they happen. However, such events do happen, as is evidenced in part by the opioid epidemic facing the U.S. To date, Bluesight for Controlled Substances has documented over 1 million cases, of which 90 to 95% are auto-closed by the system. The remaining cases had enough red flags to warrant further investigation into the behavior underlying the events.
About Kit CheckTM
Kit Check is the leading provider of automated medication management solutions for hospital pharmacies. Our solutions blend powerful machine learning and advanced tracking technology to streamline medication inventory, workflow, and auditing processes and help hospital pharmacies cut costs, reduce risk, and get more done. To date, our more than 500 U.S. and Canadian hospital partners have tracked over 50 million medications using the Kit Check and BluesightTM for Controlled Substances software. More information about Kit Check and our software solutions can be found at kitcheck.com.
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Contacts
Josh DeStefano
kitcheck@matternow.com
617-391-9896
Source: Kit Check