Recognizing the importance of infusion system safety, AAMI has announced that it is dedicating the fall edition of its Horizons magazine to the subject. The articles in the special issue will address how healthcare facilities are making infusion systems safer, what manufacturers are doing to improve the design and functionality of pumps and systems, and what more needs to be done to reduce medication and use errors.

AAMI reports that articles will cover research on how a simplified user interface for intravenous smart pumps could improve programming times and reduce use errors; perspectives on how improved smart pump drug library use could help eliminate clinical workarounds; evidence of how syringe infusion pump programming errors could be decreased through the use of weight-based safety parameters for intermittent infusions; the challenges and rewards of one group’s smart pump implementation efforts; and a report on how a simulated-use validation study was used to achieve improved ease of infusion pump programming.

The issue will be mailed directly to all 7,000 AAMI members, and will also be archived online and distributed at biomedical association and industry meetings throughout the year.

The special issue of Horizons has been sponsored by several organizations as supporters who will promote the publication to their members and customers to expand the visibility of the topic. The sponsors include the American College of Clinical Engineering; American Society for Healthcare Risk Management; Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation; ECRI Institute; Healthcare Technology Foundation; and the National Patient Safety Foundation.

For more information about Horizons magazine, visit the AAMI website.