Technology Isn’t the Half of It: Integrating Electronic Health Records and Infusion Pumps in a Large Hospital

Although adoption of “smart” infusion pumps has improved intravenous medication administration safety, pump integration with electronic health records (EHRs) remains rare. Early-adopter hospitals have recently implemented intravenous clinical integration (IVCI) to allow bidirectional communication between their EHRs and infusion pumps. However, the challenges and strategies involved in IVCI implementation have not been described. A qualitative description of one hospital’s IVCI implementation was conducted. The research team interviewed 33 pharmacists, technologists, clinicians, nurse managers, educators, and organizational leaders; observed nurses on five units using EHR–integrated pumps; and attended nurse training. Interview notes and transcripts were analyzed to describe IVCI implementation, highlighting its effects on clinicians and the organization. Motivations for implementation included a culture of innovation, simultaneous pump and EHR upgrades, and belief that IVCI would improve patient safety. Proactive planning included a simultaneous go-live across selected units, financial investment, multidisciplinary planning teams, and clinical training. Challenges included lack of direct communication between EHR and pump vendors, nonstandardized unit-specific drug libraries, and unit- and nurse-specific variation in workflows for administering infusions. Mitigation strategies included serving as messenger between vendors, conducting hospitalwide efforts to standardize drug libraries and workflows, and standardizing organizational policies. Lessons learned included that IVCI adoption was as much a nursing workflow and organizational policy intervention as a technological implementation. Integrating infusion pumps and EHRs involves much more than installing new technologies. Hospitals considering IVCI should prepare to undertake significant simultaneous changes to organizational policies and clinician workflows.