Smart Pumps 2018
Deeper Partnering Needed

EMR interoperability is one of the biggest drivers in new pump purchases and has a significant impact on whether vendors are viewed as long-term partners. BD is viewed as such, thanks to their market-leading efforts in driving interoperability and to the versatility of the multimodular Alaris platform. ICU Medical is a distant second in bringing customers live with interoperability but is more likely than BD to provide strong handholding and guidance through the interoperability experience. Lacking autoprogramming, the Baxter Sigma Spectrum does not have bidirectional interoperability; the newly released Spectrum IQ does, and customers are optimistic about it. The few B. Braun customers live with interoperability achieved it on their own; the vendor is now engaged in helping a couple more go live. Interoperability is less of a priority for Smiths Medical customers since the Medfusion pump is syringe only.

The Baxter customers who report that the vendor partners with them to lower costs often mention having an account representative who advises them on efficiency improvements, consumables discounts, and product bundling. However, not all customers report strong guidance from their account representative. Smiths Medical customers report value due not to ongoing cost-reduction efforts but to the vendor’s economical contracts, which include benefits such as free upgrades and free loaner pumps. BD and ICU Medical help customers bundle pumps and consumables; customers who have interoperability also report cost savings as a result of autodocumentation. Additionally, ICU Medical customers can purchase fewer pumps due to the product’s dual-line design. B. Braun customers feel the vendor generally brings up cost savings only when trying to make a sale.

B. Braun and Smiths Medical both have new reporting systems. Smiths Medical’s Medfusion 4000 customers feel the reports are easy to use and enable them to drill down to a helpful level of detail. B. Braun’s new reporting tools aren’t widely adopted; some users do not receive the guidance they need to gain actionable insights. Baxter and ICU Medical customers get helpful detail and actionable information, but the reports require too much manual effort. BD’s advanced analytics and reporting module (IKP) costs extra, so not all customers deploy it. Users note that they can manipulate the reports to see helpful granularity and also view IV data from other hospitals within their organization. They would like the system to be more user friendly and would like additional guidance from BD on which data to focus on to drive optimization.