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Updated: Sep 9, 2026

Improving IV Insulin Administration in a Community Hospital
Published on: June 11, 2012
Enhancing intravenous chemotherapy administration safety using parameterised smart infusion pumps: A one-year
Konstantinos Ioannidis1, Ioannis Scarlatinis2, Katerina Nikolaou1
1Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Hygeia Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Abstract:
ObjectiveTo standardise intravenous antineoplastic administration and reduce administration-phase discrepancies by implementing parameterised smart infusion pumps supported by a clinical pharmacist- governed drug library.Data SourcesPump alert logs and structured clinical pharmacist records of administration discrepancies collected during routine care over 12 months following go-live.Data SummaryChemotherapy administration is vulnerable to wrong infusion duration/rate selection and missed drug-specific requirements (e.g., in-line filters and light protection). A multidisciplinary team implemented parameterised smart infusion pumps with a structured library requiring selection of the exact antineoplastic agent prior to infusion. For each agent, validated infusion-time windows were mapped to safe rate ranges and enforced as locked hard limits; mandatory prompts highlighted filter and light-protection requirements where applicable. Clinical pharmacists led drug-library build, validation and change control with oncology/haematology physicians and nursing leadership, supported by staff training and standardised workflow aids. During the 12-month evaluation period, approximately 17,000 chemotherapy days and 40,000 chemotherapy infusions were assessed. Smart pump safeguards identified and enabled correction of 26 near-miss administration discrepancies before infusion initiation, corresponding to 0.15 discrepancies per 100 chemotherapy days. Parameterisation reduced programming steps and shortened set-up time by approximately 30 s per infusion, corresponding to an estimated net nursing time saving of around one hour per day.ConclusionsA clinical pharmacist-led parameterised smart pump programme strengthened standardisation at the point of administration and supported a proactive medication-safety culture in routine practice. This practice-based report provides transferable operational detail on governance and bedside safeguards for oncology pharmacy services.
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