Vim & Vigor - Spring 2011 - Community Healthcare - (Page 56)

PRESCRIPTION for Robots help to safeguard medication dispensing process BY ELISE SIMS SAFETY (which is identiﬁed by a bar code) and a light goes on to indicate to the pharmacy technician the proper medication to select and how many are needed to ﬁll the prescription. ROBOTS ENSURE ACCURACY W 56 Community Hospital retail pharmacy manager Frank Bieda looks over the description on the outside of a prescription bottle. According to Bieda, patients get peace of mind by verifying their own medication against the picture and written description on the robot-produced prescription label. hether you are a patient staying at a Community Healthcare System hospital or a customer picking up a prescription from its retail pharmacy, your medication is delivered with the highest level of accuracy thanks to the added security provided by advanced robotic technologies. This robotic technology helps to safeguard patient medications in the hospitals of Community Healthcare System— Community Hospital in Munster, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart. Automated medication carousels, called Omnicell WorkﬂowRX™ solution, also make the prescription drug dispensing process more accurate and efﬁcient. Orders are sent by doctors and nurses via computer to the Central Pharmacy. After the pharmacist checks and veriﬁes the order in the Pharmacy Information System, the order is electronically transmitted to the carousel. The medication carousel receives the order, locates the proper medication Vim & Vigor · SP R I N G 2 011 “Unlike storage-by-shelf method, stacked next to each other alphabetically, which is how most pharmacies keep inventory, look-alike, sound-alike drugs can be located in totally different positions on the carousel,” says Abe Manasrah, M.S., director of Pharmacy for Community Healthcare System. “Technicians who are ﬁlling prescriptions no longer have an opportunity to mix up drugs. The carousel points to one speciﬁc medication, then requires a bar code be scanned to conﬁrm the right order has been ﬁlled, and to complete processing.” In the retail pharmacy based at Community Hospital, the robotic system is able to ﬁll, label and deliver up to 150 prescriptions per hour. The system contains 100 universal dispensing cells that are maintained by the staff. The Scriptpro SP 100™ dispenses tablets and capsules of all shapes and sizes into standard pharmacy vials. The system has a robotic arm that ﬁlls vials directly from the dispensing cells, removing the possibility of a drug mix-up. The SP 100 also prints and applies the prescription label and delivers uncapped vials for ﬁnal inspection by the pharmacist. An image of the dispensed medication is also displayed on a computer screen for visual veriﬁcation. PATIENT SAFETY IS TOP PRIORITY “All medications have descriptions on the outside of the bottle,” says Frank Bieda, retail manager of the Community Hospital outpatient pharmacy. “My patients get peace of mind by verifying their own medication against the picture and written description on the robot-produced prescription label.” “Because of the volume that the robot can process, I’m able to spend more time speaking with our patients about their medications and answering their questions,” Bieda says. “The hospitals of Community Healthcare System continue to be a leader in patient safety with implementation of these systems,” Manasrah says.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Spring 2011 - Community Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Spring 2011 - Community Healthcare
Contents
Community Message
Community Briefs
Solutions for Relief
Helping the Medicine Go Down
Beating Breast Cancer
A Workout for Every Mood
Don’t Fail Your Heart
If Your Bones Could Talk
Healthy Travels
Over 40 and Fabulous
Do-It-Yourself Health?
Fighting Words
Balancing Act
Giving & Getting
The Heart of Rehab
Spotlight on St. Mary Medical Center
Spotlight on Community Hospital
Spotlight on St. Catherine Hospital
Prescription for Safety

Vim & Vigor - Spring 2011 - Community Healthcare