Omnicell Introduces Breakthrough Point-to-Point Medication Safety(TM) Solutions
Nursing Workflow and Patient Safety Improved with Integration of OmniRx(R) Cabinets and SafetyMed(TM) RN
LAS VEGAS, Dec. 5 / -- The job of administering medications to hospital patients got safer and more efficient for nurses today when Omnicell, Inc. (NASDAQ:OMCL) unveiled its new Point-to-Point Medication Safety solutions for use at the points of use and administration. The integration of Omnicell's medication dispensing cabinets and bedside medication administration system adds six new safety checks, while eliminating the need for nurses to search for patients in cabinets or document overrides and other decisions at both the cabinet and the patient bedside.
The announcement was made during a news conference held at the 2005 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting.
"This is a breakthrough for nursing workflow and patient safety," explained Jan Moss, RN, Omnicell's product manager for SafetyMed RN.
"Before this integration, a nurse would go to the cabinet and go through all the patients in the unit to locate his or her patient, then search through what can be a long list of patient medications to find due meds," explained Moss. "Add the need to compare the approved medications with the medication administration record and you have a process that is both time-consuming and fraught with potential errors."
With Omnicell's Point-to-Point Medication Safety solutions, a nurse signs in using a secure pass code and the system automatically lists his or her patients and due meds, according to Moss. Through a series of bar code checks, the system verifies and documents the entire process, while issuing alerts about drug interactions or other potential problems.
"If you're a nurse, the last thing you want to do is duplicate your effort, and that is especially true for overrides when a nurse gets physician orders to administer a medication in the middle of the night and must explain the override and document the entire process," Moss said.
The integration of Omnicell's dispensing cabinets and bedside administration system not only adds six points of safety to the medication-use process, it also facilitates more efficient documentation, billing and inventory control.
The six points of safety added by the Omnicell Point-to-Point Medication Safety solutions include:
-- SafetyStock(TM) bar code confirmation at the medication dispensing
cabinet uses bar codes to verify that the correct medication is stocked
in the correct cabinet bin.
-- SafetyStock verifies that the correct medication is obtained at the
time of issue.
-- For non-pharmacy-reviewed orders, allergy alerts are provided at both
the point of use and the point of administration.
-- OmniRx-SafetyMed RN integration identifies due meds, preventing errors
of omission as well as errors of duplication. The medication override
process is integrated and can be conducted either at the OmniRx cabinet
or at the patient bedside with SafetyMed RN, improving nursing
efficiency and data input accuracy.
-- SafetyMed RN uses bar codes to verify the accuracy of patient
medications.
-- OmniRx-SafetyMed RN integration generates a Dispense Versus
Administration Report which tracks compliance and enhances billing
accuracy.
About Omnicell
Established in 1992, Omnicell is a leading provider of patient safety solutions preferred by nurses. Improving patient care by enhancing operational efficiency, Omnicell solutions are used throughout the healthcare facility -- in the pharmacy, nursing units, surgical services, cath lab, and all the way to the patient's bedside. The company's MedGuard(TM) line of solutions for the medication-use process includes systems for physician order management, automated pharmacy retrieval, medication packaging, medication dispensing, and nursing workflow automation with bar code medication administration. For the medical-surgical supply chain, Omnicell provides open bar code systems, cabinet-based supply management, integrated open and cabinet-based systems, and Web-based procurement. More than 1,600 healthcare facilities use Omnicell solutions to help reduce medication errors, operate more efficiently, and decrease costs -- ultimately contributing to improved clinical and financial outcomes. For more information, visit www.omnicell.com.
Source: Omnicell, Inc.
CONTACT: Bruce Lewis of Lewis & Summers Public Relations,
+1-707-964-3844, or bruce@prwebsite.com, for Omnicell, Inc.
Web site: www.omnicell.com/
