A call to action for optimizing the electronic health record in the parenteral nutrition workflow

Parenteral nutrition compatibility and stability: Practical considerations

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a complex preparation that contains multiple component products with the associated risk for incompatibilities and diminished stabilities when combined together as an admixture. Significant patient harm can result from prescribing, preparing, and administering PN without confirming compatibility and stability. Incompatibility or instability is rarely obvious to the unaided eye, so safe PN admixture relies on incorporating physicochemical properties of the included components into compatibility and stability decisions. Practices include applying active ingredient concentration limits to reduce risk for incompatibilities and instabilities. The purpose of the current article is to distill the wide-ranging information on PN compatibility and stability into a feasible blueprint that individual healthcare organizations can then use to design and implement practical initiatives. Compatibility and stability considerations can be incorporated into the routine tasks of PN prescribing, order reviewing, preparing, and administering. The focus of this review is on identifying potential physicochemical interactions that can be addressed at each step in the PN use process. Organizations should incorporate compatibility and stability considerations into the routine procedures and practices of all clinicians involved with PN therapy. Those clinicians in healthcare organizations and caregivers in the home should then be in a position to safely provide the appropriate PN admixtures in terms of compatibility and stability.

Offering Guidance and Learning to Prescribers to Initiate Parenteral Nutrition using a Validated Electronic Decision TREE (OLIVE TREE)

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is recommended in patients nutritionally at risk and unable to receive oral or enteral nutrition. A standardized electronic PN order format could enhance appropriate PN prescribing. We developed the OLIVE TREE (Offering guidance and Learning to prescribers to Initiate PN using a Validated Electronic decision TREE), embedded in our electronic health record. We aimed to evaluate its validity and impact on physicians' prescribing behavior. A non-randomized before-after study was carried out in a tertiary care center. The OLIVE TREE comprises 120 individual items. A process validation was performed to determine interrater agreement between a pharmacist and the treating physician. To estimate the proportion of patients for whom the OLIVE TREE had an effective and potential impact on physicians' prescribing behavior, a proof of concept study was conducted. The proportion of patients for whom PN was averted and the proportion of decisions not in line with the recommendation were also calculated. The process validation in 20 patients resulted in an interrater agreement of 95.0%. The proof of concept in 73 patients resulted in an effective and potential impact on prescribing behavior in 50.7% and 79.5% of these patients, respectively. Initiation of PN was not averted and recommendations of the OLIVE TREE were overruled in 42.5% of the patients. Our newly developed OLIVE TREE has a good process validity. A substantial impact on prescribing behavior was observed, although initiation of PN was not avoided. In the next phase, the decision tree will be implemented hospital-wide.

A demonstration of using formal consensus methods within guideline development; a case study

BACKGROUND

Recommendations within guidelines are developed by synthesising the best available evidence; when limited evidence is identified recommendations are generally based on informal consensus. However, there are potential biases in group decision making, and formal consensus methods may help reduce these.

METHODS

We conducted a case study using formal consensus, to develop one set of recommendations within the Neonatal Parenteral Nutrition guideline being produced for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Statements were generated through identification of published guidelines on several topics relating to neonatal parenteral nutrition. Ten high quality guidelines were included, and 28 statements were generated; these statements were rated by the committee via two rounds of voting. The statements which resulted in agreement were then used to develop the recommendations.

RESULTS

The approach was systematic and provided transparency. Additionally, a number of lessons were learnt; including the value of selecting the appropriate topic, giving adequate time to the process, and ensuring methodologies are understood by the committee for their value and relevance.

CONCLUSION

Formal consensus is a valuable option for use within guideline development when specific criteria are met. The approach provides transparent methodology, ensuring clarity on how recommendations are developed.

Use of Integrated Clinical Decision Support Tools to Manage Parenteral Nutrition Ordering: Experience From an Academic Medical Center

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a complex therapy with numerous opportunities for error during the prescribing, preparation, and administration processes. Advances in technology, such as computerized provider order entry (CPOE), electronic health records (EHRs), and clinical decision support (CDS) have helped decrease the risks associated with PN therapy. These technologies can be utilized to guide prescribing, provide automated safety checks, and increase overall safety and accuracy in PN ordering, compounding, and administration. In recent years, increased awareness of the risks associated with PN therapy, in particular issues with ordering and transcription, have magnified the need for improved support of PN ordering within currently available systems. Additionally, drug shortages continue to impact key components of PN admixtures, further increasing the risks associated with this complex therapy. These concerns and risks present an opportunity for the development of new functionality, as well as improvements in and innovative utilization of available technology within systems supporting the PN use process. This discussion will highlight the risks associated with PN, examine the role of drug shortages on the safety of this therapy, describe the application of available technology to manage shortages, and report the experience of using commercially available CDS tools at one academic medical center. It will also include a discussion of the transition from paper orders to CPOE/EHR-based orders for PN and the transition from one commercially available electronic system to another at this particular institution.

Electronic Health Record and Parenteral Nutrition Functionality: A Gap Analysis

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a complex, high-alert medication that contains up to 40 different ingredients. Surveys have shown that current electronic health record (EHR) systems may lack functionality for safe and optimal delivery of PN. A gap analysis was performed by a multihospital system to identify opportunities to enhance the current PN process using the EHR utilized by the organization.

Significant Published Articles for Pharmacy Nutrition Support Practice in 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to assist the pharmacist engaged in nutrition support therapy in staying current with pertinent literature. Methods: Several clinical pharmacists engaged in nutrition support therapy compiled a list of articles published in 2018 considered important to their clinical practice. The citation list was compiled into a single spreadsheet where the author participants were asked to assess whether the article was considered important to nutrition support pharmacy practice. A culled list of publications was then identified whereby the majority of author participants (at least 5 of 8) considered the paper to be important. Guideline and consensus papers from professional organizations, important to practice but not scored, were also included. Results: A total of 117 articles were identified; 8 from the primary literature were voted by the group to be of high importance. An additional 13 organizational guidelines, position, recommendation, or consensus papers were also identified. The top-ranked articles from the primary literature were reviewed. Conclusion: We recommend that pharmacists engaged in nutrition support therapy be familiar with these articles as it pertains to their practice.