Evaluation of an intravenous preparation information system for improving the reconstitution and dilution process

• We found significant potential intravenous (IV) preparation errors.
• Provision of reconstitution alerts improves the IV preparation process.
• The impact of reconstitution alerts declined monthly.

BackgroundThere are very few studies reporting the impact of providing intravenous (IV) preparation information on quality use of antimicrobials, particularly regarding their reconstitution and dilution. Therefore, to improve these processes in IV antimicrobial administration, an IV preparation information system (IPIS) was implemented in a hospital.ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate the effect of improving reconstitution and dilution by implementing an IPIS in the electronic medical record (EMR) system.MethodsPrescriptions and activity records of nurses for injectable antimicrobials that required reconstitution and dilution for IV preparation from January 2008 to December 2013 were retrieved from EMR, and assessed based on packaging label information for reconstituting and diluting solutions. We defined proper reconstitution and dilution as occurring when the reconstitution and dilution solutions prescribed were consistent with the nurses' acting records. The types of intervention in the IPIS were as follows: a pop-up alert for proper reconstitution and passive guidance for proper dilution. We calculated the monthly proper reconstitution rate (PRR) and proper dilution rate (PDR) and evaluated the changes in these rates and trends using interrupted time series analyses.ResultsPrior to the initiation of the reconstitution alert and dilution information, the PRR and PDR were 12.7 and 46.1%, respectively. The reconstitution alert of the IPIS rapidly increased the PRR by 41% (p < 0.001), after which the PRR decreased by 0.9% (p = 0.013) per month after several months. However, there was no significant change in the rate or trend of the PDR during the study period.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that the provision of reconstitution alerts by the IPIS contributed to improving the reconstitution process of IV antimicrobial injection administration. However, providing passive information on dilution solutions was ineffective. Furthermore, solutions to ensure the continuous effectiveness of alert systems are warranted and should be actively sought.