Kit Check, an automated medication management solutions provider for hospitals, recently announced the addition of its Individual Risk Identification Score (IRIS) to its medication diversion platform. The latest feature of Kit Check’s Bluesight for Controlled Substances (BCS), IRIS, is designed to enable hospital personnel to automatically identify specific employees that pose the highest risk for controlled substance medication diversion. The new technology reportedly leverages machine learning to identify anomalous behavior and curb the theft and misuse of controlled substances, such as opioids, in hospitals.
Diversion of controlled substances by medical personnel is a growing problem related to the nationwide rise in opioid addiction. Identifying this diversion activity is particularly challenging because medications can pass through many locations and accessed by many people before being administered to intended patients. Bluesight’s IRIS feature can detect who is exhibiting behaviors that are consistent with diversion and allow for appropriate intervention.
Bluesight for Controlled Substances (BCS) is a SaaS-based medication diversion detection and discrepancy resolution solution. Controlled substances are dispensed for administration to patients by a variety of doctors and nurses, and frequently the data related to what was dispensed and what was administered doesn’t add up. Government regulations require these discrepancies to be investigated and resolved. Traditionally, this requires a tedious, manual process that consumes valuable staff time. Additionally, despite the time and effort, staff-driven diversion is rarely discovered. IRIS is a new BCS feature to detect and identify individuals with a higher likelihood of being engaged in diversion.
“Diversion is a tough nut to crack. Successful diverters are often good at covering their tracks and few hospitals are able to look at a comprehensive set of data. Even fewer use multivariate machine learning techniques that can reveal hard-to-find behavior patterns. These factors lead to a diversion gap that inadvertently allows abusers to slip through the cracks,” said Kevin MacDonald, co-founder and CEO, Kit Check. “However, digital fingerprints from medication dispensing combined with location, time, personnel, medication administration and other variables can identify diversion activity that otherwise would go unnoticed. Bluesight for Controlled Substances software in combination with IRIS tell you who specifically shows patterns consistent with medication theft. It is a real break-through in diversion detection and control.”
IRIS relies on Bluesight’s machine learning algorithms, which are applied to large data sets that include medication, personnel, time, location and other variables. The solution was developed in conjunction with clinical pharmacists and augments other Bluesight for Controlled Substances features that today surface discrepancies in controlled substance use documentation and provide streamlined workflows for reconciliation.
“Finding diversion was always a haphazard process when I served as a hospital director of pharmacy,” said Doug Zurawski, PharmD and EVP, sales, Kit Check. “We didn’t have the right systems or access to all of the administration data nor did we have the manpower and skill sets required to identify diverters. Standard deviation calculations on medication dispensing led to dead ends. What Kit Check has shown with IRIS is that the data tells the story if you have the right algorithms and you are analyzing a comprehensive set of dispensing and administration data.”
Ken Briodagh is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience under his belt. He is in love with technology and if he had his druthers would beta test everything from shoe phones to flying cars.Edited by
Ken Briodagh
