By Christmas Day you knew more about IV infusion pumps and medical equipment rentals than ever. This was not knowledge that was fun to learn about and was not part of your typical holiday plans, but it was a result of your daughter having to have shoulder surgery while she was home for winter break.
Sitting in the recovery room as your daughter woke up from her out patient procedure you were amazed at all of the technology in this one small space. Monitoring systems as well as IV infusion pumps were standard in every one of the curtained rooms, and you watched in amazement as nurses and technicians came in and out of the room. And while these hospital workers were always pleasant and professional, you quickly realized that although they were clearly in the room checking on your daughter, they were also very in tune with all of the technology that was an integral part of her care as well.
Today’s Hospital Visits and Stays Include a Number of Technology Devices and Monitors
Research indicates that the average hospital will own or rent over 35,000 pieces of equipment at any one time. And while infusion pumps have been in use since the late 1960s, they remain a vital part of many in patient and out patient hospital stays. In fact, the latest research by the Materiel Services (MS) department at the University of Michigan Health Systems, 86% of all patients admitted to hospital beds require some kind of infusion pump.
The latest projections indicate that the global infusion pumps market will be valued at $5,016 million by the year 2024. At its most basic level, all of these pumps are classified as one of two categories or sizes. The large volume pumps provide nutrient solutions large enough to feed a patient, while small-volume pumps are used to infuse medicines hormones. As a result, the fact that the average cost of one day in a hospital in the U.S. in 2013 was $4,293, it is likely that infusion pumps processes were a part of all of those bills.
Fortunately, as technology continues to advance, so do the pumps that patients use in the hospital. For instance, a 2013 report from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists indicated that 72.9% of all U.S. hospitals were using smart infusion pumps. This is an increase when compared with the 44% that were using smart infusion pumps in the year 2007.
Whether you are a parent waiting for your daughter to recover from a shoulder surgery over winter break or you are the spouse of someone who is in the middle of a much longer stay, IV infusion pumps and other kinds of medical technology are a significant part of the care all patients receive.
