[Blog Details]
60% less time needed for bedside medication administration at Pantein Maasziekenhuis
[Blog Details]
60% less time needed for bedside medication administration at Pantein Maasziekenhuis
A new module of the medication safety system MedEye has been implemented at Pantein Maasziekenhuis. This module significantly improves the efficiency of the medication process on the nursing wards. It was developed in close collaboration with the hospital and aligns closely with Pantein’s workflows for medication preparation and optimizing the reuse of patients’ own medication. Through a combination of smart task redistribution and digital verification, nurses now require up to 60% less time to administer medication. At the same time, the new approach reduces medication waste by enabling safer reuse of medication that patients bring from home, including multi-dose packaging.
“This allows us to safely reuse patients’ own medication more often and reduces the need to dispense medication in the patient’s name,”
Maarten van Soest
Pharmacy
More time for care through smart task redistribution
The change started with a clear request from the nursing wards. Preparing and dispensing medication took up a lot of nurses’ time and was often done in between other care tasks. At the same time, pressure on healthcare is increasing due to more complex patients and staff shortages.
Pantein therefore chose to deploy medication assistants to handle medication preparation. These assistants are part of the nursing teams and take responsibility for preparing and verifying medication. The new MedEye module is specifically designed to support this process and was co-developed with Pantein to fit this way of working.
“Nurses indicated that preparing medication was time-consuming and error-prone, as they often had to do it in between other tasks,” says Jenny de Bruin, Team Leader of the General Surgery C2 ward and Medication Management at Pantein. “By assigning this task to medication assistants and using MedEye for verification, we’ve made the process much clearer and safer.”
60% Less time needed for bedside medication administration
The new workflow significantly reduces the time needed for medication administration at the bedside. Medication assistants verify medication in advance and ensure everything is correctly registered in the system before it reaches the nurse.
“Medication assistants check the medication beforehand,” explains Maarten van Soest, hospital pharmacist at Pantein. “This means everything is already properly set up. The nurse can then directly scan and administer the medication using MedEye. This makes the process much faster and more straightforward.”
For nurses, this mainly results in greater peace of mind during their shifts. The time saved can be spent on direct patient care, such as providing explanations, making observations, and maintaining personal contact with patients.
Less medication waste through reuse of patients’ own medication
In addition to efficiency, the new module also contributes significantly to sustainability. With the new MedEye functionality, medication brought from home by patients can be safely registered and verified within the medication process.
“This allows us to safely reuse patients’ own medication more often and reduces the need to dispense medication in the patient’s name,” says Van Soest. “This is important, as previous research has shown that approximately 60% of medication dispensed by hospital pharmacies ultimately goes unused and is returned. Besides the unnecessary costs, the environmental impact is particularly high. One of the hospital’s goals for 2026 is to take real steps in reducing unnecessary medication dispensing and waste. MedEye supports this effort.”
By digitally registering and scanning medication in advance, a closed-loop medication process is created in which all medication remains traceable.
Greater safety and more time for the patient
According to Pantein, the combination of improved preparation, digital verification, and clear task allocation results in a safer and more efficient medication process. Van Soest: “We are the first hospital in the Netherlands to work with MedEye to ensure safe administration registration of patients’ own medication for all emergency/acute patients. This gives us a complete digital closed loop for preparing and administering all medication within the hospital.”
De Bruin summarizes the result:
“MedEye makes medication safe, so there’s more time left for what really matters: the patient.”
Strategic Insights That Drive Business Success
Strategic Insights That Drive Business Success
Strategic Insights That Drive Business Success
