Drug Topics - November 19, 2007 - (Page H19)

www.drugtopics.com NOVEMBER 19, 2007 DRUG TOPICS HSE 19 Technology > > > Hospital improves patient safety with automatic drug distribution system Michael Barbella of a decade, administrators at F or the better partimproveChambersburg,and reduce Chambersburg Hospital, Pa., have wrestled with ways to patient safety medication errors. In 1996, shortly after David Grant, R.Ph., MBA, joined the hospital’s pharmacy staff, administrators turned to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) for help in devising a plan to reduce medication errors. While the hospital implemented many of the recommendations made by ISMP the number of errors was , not significantly reduced, mostly because there was little or no technology available to ensure accuracy. The hospital moved one step closer to attaining its goal when Grant became the director of pharmacy and respiratory care in 2002. He helped form a medication safety team made up of nurses, pharmacists, doctors, and information services specialists who reviewed and revised hospital policies and processes to improve patient safety. But a technological solution remained elusive. Then, in 2005, Grant found a way to help the 248bed hospital achieve its goal. In January of that year, the hospital began implementing an automated solution called WorkflowRx from Mountain View, Calif.-based Omnicell Inc. The solution automates the ordering, receiving, stocking, dispensing, and unit-dose packaging of medications. company. The carousel, which has up to 32 shelves to store medications, can reorder drugs based on past usage. After a patient’s medication dosage is entered into WorkflowRx, the system’s SafetyPak component individually packages the drug, applies a bar Omnicell’s SafetyPak code to it, and prints the patient’s name on helps reduce the time it takes to fill the package. medication carts. “It’s really acting in some ways like a warehousing system in that it orders [drugs], receives them, stocks them, and picks them,” said Wendell Wenjen, product marketing manager for WorkflowRx at Omnicell. “At a high level, that is what goes on in a hospital pharmacy.” Saving time Before Chambersburg Hospital started using WorkflowRx in April 2006, pharmacists and technicians typically spent 16 hours a day filling patients’ medication orders. The orders, printed on a ream of paper, would be divided by nursing unit and then hand-picked by a technician, Grant said. That process usually took around eight hours. Once the technician finished hand-picking the 1,200 to 1,400 orders, a pharmacist would then check the orders for accuracy. That process also took eight hours. “When you have such a long cart-fill time, during the whole time you are filling orders, there are [medication] changes going on and new orders coming in,” Wenjen noted. “By the time you finish the process, you basically have to start all over again.” Pharmacists and technicians haven’t had to start the process over again for more than a year now. The latest version of WorkflowRx—used by the hospital for the past several months—has cut the medication order-fill time from 16 hours to 90 minutes, giving pharmacists and technicians the ability to spend more time tending to patients’ needs. Grant said the solution has helped streamline the hospital’s drug-dispensing process and enhance patient safety. Besides improving patient safety, WorkflowRx helps hospital pharmacists improve the productivity of their staff and better manage inventory. “There’s an operational benefit,” Wenjen explained. “But it really helps improve patient safety and reduce medication errors. The pharmacists themselves now can do more value-added consulting with doctors and patients.” DT An automatic warehouse The WorkflowRx 5.0 solution used by the south-central Pennsylvania hospital enables pharmacy staff members to perform various tasks simultaneously, such as drug dispensing and inventory maintenance. The hospital also uses an electronic medication administration record/bedside medication verification (eMAR/BMV) system from Westwood, Mass.-based MEDITECH, to improve patient safety. The combination of the two systems, Grant said, has dramatically reduced the time it takes to fill medication carts. The systems also have helped reduce dispensing errors and improve patient safety. Grant said the hospital’s error rate dropped from 0.05% in January 2006 to 0.03% in September 2006. Dispensing errors during that period fell from 12% to 3%, he added. Omnicell’s WorkflowRx system integrates an automated storage and retrieval carousel with a tablet/capsule repackaging device called SafetyPak, according to the http://www.drugtopics.com

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Drug Topics - November 19, 2007 Contents Latebreakers Letters Leukemia Patients Now Have More Options First-in-Class HIV Drug Boon to Patients at End of Tether 150 Years of American Pharmacy Pharmacy Schools Confront New Pressures From Pariah to Patient ACCP Releases Position Paper on Ethical Interactions New Injectable Antibiotic Welcomed with Open Arms NCCN Updates Head and Neck Cancer Guide Improved Phosphate Binder Approved for Dialysis Patients Considering Combination Concern Ensuring Seamless Care Bill Would Create Center for Comparative Effectiveness Hospital Improves Patient Safety with Automatic Drug Distribution System Infection Rates, Patient Stays Drop with New Drug Device How R.Ph.s Helped Three Hospitals Win Quality and Safety Awards A Pharmacist and Dog in Tow are Alzheimer’s Patients’ Best Friends More PBMs Agreeing to Pricing Transparency New Insulins in the Management of Diabetes New Products Advertisers Index Classified VIEWPOINT: Reflections on Pharmacy School After 30 Years

Drug Topics - November 19, 2007

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