Single-Center Analysis of the Potential Inappropriate Use of Intravenous Medications in Hospitalized Patients in China

Evaluating the Impact of Interventions and Improvements in Outpatient Intravenous Infusion Therapy at a Hospital in China: A Comprehensive Analysis of Prescription Patterns and Safety Measures

Background

The excessive use of intravenous infusion in China was once a serious problem, but in recent years, attention has been paid to the phenomenon, and the government has implemented several policies to solve the problem, which has been gradually improved.

Aim

This study focuses on evaluating the impact of ongoing interventions and improvements in outpatient intravenous infusion therapy.

Methods

From January 2016 to December 2022, we conducted a study to gather annual data on intravenous infusion prescriptions. A data questionnaire, encompassing information on departments, clinical diagnosis, and infusion drugs, was developed for this purpose. We analyzed the changing trends of Top 10 clinical departments with higher intravenous infusion usage rates and Top 10 drugs used. We also evaluated the compliance of intravenous infusion prescriptions with management regulations and drug instructions, for further intervention in the future.

Results

The analysis of intravenous infusion prescription rates revealed a gradual decrease from 10.89% to 5.63%. This reduction was statistically significant (P < 0.05). High levels of intravenous infusion use were consistently observed in emergency surgery and emergency medicine. Commonly administered drugs via infusion included antibacterial drugs, tumor medications, proton pump inhibitors, and injections of traditional Chinese medicine. Inappropriate prescriptions are often characterized by issues related to drug dosage, usage, indication, and selection. Trend analysis of unreasonable types revealed significant improvements in "Diagnosis incomplete/unwritten", "Solvent selection", "Dosing frequency", and "Treatment without indication" (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The findings of this study indicate a gradual improvement in the situation regarding intravenous infusion. However, there are still prevalent instances of unreasonable practices that need to be addressed.

Effectiveness of antimicrobial stewardship interventions on early switch from intravenous-to-oral antimicrobials in hospitalized adults: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

This review aimed to summarize the available evidence on the effectiveness and safety of antimicrobial stewardship interventions to improve the practice of IV-to-PO antimicrobial switch therapy in hospitalized adults.

METHODS

Following the PRISMA guidelines, we searched Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE/PubMed, and Scopus from inception to September 1, 2020, for original articles investigating any interventions aimed to improve the practice of IV-to-PO antimicrobial switch therapy in hospitalized adults with infectious diseases. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies. Studies were excluded if they evaluated drugs other than antimicrobials, head-to-head comparison of interventions, included pediatrics or oncology patients.

RESULTS

Of 506 unique citations identified, 36 studies met the inclusion criteria. The 36 included studies reported 92 interventions as a single (n = 10) or a bundle of interventions (n = 26). The most common interventions used were guideline/protocol/pathway (n = 25), audit and feedback (n = 20), and education (n = 17).

CONCLUSIONS

This review provides health care providers with a comprehensive summary on the interventions to promote IV-to-PO antimicrobial switch. While no one intervention could be identified as the safest and most effective as most of the included studies used a bundle of interventions, all interventions resulted in optimizing antibiotic use and reducing health care expenditures without compromising the clinical outcomes. As such, each hospital should design and utilize interventions that are applicable based on available resources and expertise.

Applying artificial intelligence for cancer immunotherapy

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a general term that refers to the use of a machine to imitate intelligent behavior for performing complex tasks with minimal human intervention, such as machine learning; this technology is revolutionizing and reshaping medicine. AI has considerable potential to perfect health-care systems in areas such as diagnostics, risk analysis, health information administration, lifestyle supervision, and virtual health assistance. In terms of immunotherapy, AI has been applied to the prediction of immunotherapy responses based on immune signatures, medical imaging and histological analysis. These features could also be highly useful in the management of cancer immunotherapy given their ever-increasing performance in improving diagnostic accuracy, optimizing treatment planning, predicting outcomes of care and reducing human resource costs. In this review, we present the details of AI and the current progression and state of the art in employing AI for cancer immunotherapy. Furthermore, we discuss the challenges, opportunities and corresponding strategies in applying the technology for widespread clinical deployment. Finally, we summarize the impact of AI on cancer immunotherapy and provide our perspectives about underlying applications of AI in the future.

Development and Evaluation of an Intravenous Infusion Sequence Annotation System

OBJECTIVES

The sequence of intravenous infusions may impact the efficacy, safety, and cost of intravenous medications. The study describes and assesses a computerized clinical decision support annotation system capable of analyzing the sequence of intravenous infusions.

METHODS

All intravenous medications on the hospital formulary were analyzed based on factors that impact intravenous infusion sequence. Eight pharmacy infusion knowledge databases were constructed based on Hospital Infusion Standards. These databases were incorporated into the computerized sequence annotation module within the electronic health record system. The annotation process was changed from pharmacists' manual annotation (phase 1) to computer-aided pharmacist manual annotation (phase 2) to automated computer annotation (phase 3).

RESULTS

Comparing phase 2 to phase 1, there were significant differences in sequence annotation with regards to the percentage of hospital wards annotated (100% vs. 4.65%, chi-square  = 180.95, p < 0.001), percentage of patients annotated (64.18% vs. 0.52%, chi-square = 90.46, p < 0.001), percentage of intravenous orders annotated (75.67% vs. 0.77%, chi-square = 118.78, p < 0.001), and the number of tubing flushes per ward per day (118.51 vs. 2,115.00, p < 0.001). Compared with phase 1, there were significant cost savings in tubing flushes in phase 2 and phase 3. Compared with phase 1, there was significant difference in the time nurses spent on tubing flushes in phase 2 and phase 3 (1,244.94 vs. 21,684.8 minutes, p < 0.001; 1,369.51 vs. 21,684.8 minutes, p < 0.001). Compared with phase 1, significantly less time was required for pharmacist annotation in phase 2 and phase 3 (90.6 vs. 4,753.57 minutes, p < 0.001; 0.05 vs. 4,753.57 minutes, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

A computerized infusion annotation system is efficient in sequence annotation and significant savings in tubing flushes can be achieved as a result.

Overuse of intravenous infusions in China: focusing on management platform and cultural problems

This article reviews the current status of the overuse of intravenous (IV) infusions in China and implications to patient safety, and analyzes factors associated with the overuse. Although many factors contribute to the overuse of IV infusions in China, we focus on the construction of an IV infusion management system and tackling cultural problems as the first step to address issues of IV therapy in this commentary.