University Of Chicago Medical Center Expansion Includes Conversion To Omnicell Automation Systems For Pharmacy And Patient Care Areas

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnicell, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMCL), a leading provider of medication and supply management solutions and analytics software for healthcare facilities, today announced that the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) will implement a decentralized drug dispensing model using Omnicell solutions. The installation will include Omnicell Inventory Management Carousels with WorkflowRx™ software for comprehensive medication inventory management, as well as Omnicell automated dispensing systems to help streamline pharmacy and nursing workflow efficiency.

The 532-bed UCMC is rapidly growing to better serve patients, and will open its newest hospital pavilion in 2013. The expansion will feature the introduction of the new Omnicell G4 platform into nursing units throughout the Medical Center.

Omnicell's new G4 platform features a single unified database across the continuum of medications maintained in the hospital's automated dispensing cabinets and mobile medication systems, thereby decreasing the risk of human error and improving pharmacy workflow. The G4 platform also supports a decentralized drug dispensing model that puts medication stock for first doses and other scheduled and "as needed" doses close to nurses and other end users.

Omnicell solutions are designed to integrate with the Center's computerized physician order entry (CPOE), allowing decentralized pharmacists to facilitate more efficient medication administration. UCMC chose the decentralized pharmacy practice model after an extensive review of the workflows and total cost of ownership of their previous central fill, robot system for medication administration. UCMC estimates that implementing a decentralized pharmacy practice model will result in reallocating 22,000 annual nursing hours back to patient care and away from time spent trying to locate and account for medications.

"Omnicell has designed their products to maximize medication safety and workflow efficiency," said Dave Hicks RPh, MBA, vice president and chief pharmacy officer at the University of Chicago Medical Center. "We reviewed the feature and functionality benefits of the leading competitive solutions, and we believe the new Omnicell G4 platform is a very appealing technology."

UCMC determined it will convert from robotic medication dispensing to Omnicell state-of-the-art technology solutions for pharmacy and nursing. UCMC's decision to convert from robot storage mirrors the trend cited in Pharmacy Purchasing & Products' 6th Annual State of Pharmacy Automation survey of health system pharmacy directors published in August 2011. The survey found that robot adoptions have declined while the use of carousels and decentralized (cart-less) dispensing systems has increased. In fact, 83 percent of those surveyed who are automating their storage and retrieval systems expect to be using carousels by 2016.

UCMC plans include implementing the following Omnicell solutions:  

• Omnicell Pharmacy Medication Management Carousels with WorkflowRx software in the central pharmacy.
• OmniRx® G4 Automated Medication Dispensing Cabinets (ADCs) throughout the nursing floors.
• SinglePointe ™ software to handle and store virtually 100 percent of a patient's medications within the automated dispensing cabinets to improve pharmacy and nursing workflow efficiency and reduce the chance for medication errors or missed doses.
• Anywhere RN™ solution, which allows nurses to review and select medication orders needed from the cabinet remotely to save time and minimize interruptions that could lead to medication administration errors.
• OmniDispenser™ module for the controlled substances in the ADCs to create a safe and secure medication management process that eliminates the need for nursing countbacks.

In November 2011, UCMC plans to install the Omnicell Carousel technology in the new pediatric pharmacy to automate the medication administration process and facilitate perpetual inventory management to improve staff productivity and reduce medication errors. The entire conversion will occur in stages over the next two years to integrate workflows from the pharmacy up to the patient floors and the new hospital pavilion, which will open for patient care in January 2013.

"As a large academic medical institution, UCMC recognized an opportunity to improve patient care and understood the benefits of Omnicell's 10-year financial business model that focuses on extending the life of equipment with predictable product upgrades to allow for the Center's future growth plans," said J. Christopher Drew, Omnicell senior vice president, field operations. "Omnicell shares the same passion and commitment to reducing medication errors and we work closely with our customers to provide automation solutions that optimize the accurate delivery of medications while ensuring quality patient care."

About the University of Chicago Medical Center

The University of Chicago Medical Center, established in 1927, is one of the nation's leading academic medical institutions. It consists of the Pritzker School of Medicine; Bernard Mitchell Hospital, the primary adult patient care facility; Comer Children's Hospital, devoted to the medical needs of children; Chicago Lying-in Hospital, a maternity and women's hospital; and the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine, a state-of-the-art ambulatory-care facility with the full spectrum of preventive, diagnostic, and treatment functions. Care is provided by more than 700 attending physicians - most of whom are full-time University faculty members - 620 residents and fellows, more than 1,000 nurses and 9,000 employees.

The Medical Center is consistently recognized as a leading provider of complex medical care. University of Chicago physician-scientists performed the first organ transplant and the first bone marrow transplant in animal models, the first successful living-donor liver transplant, the first hormone therapy for cancer and the first successful application of cancer chemotherapy. They discovered REM sleep and were the first to describe many of the stages of sleep.

About Omnicell

Omnicell, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMCL) is a leading provider of automated and business information solutions enabling hospitals and healthcare systems to streamline the medication administration process and manage costly medical supplies for increased operational efficiency and enhanced patient safety. Through seamless integration with a hospital's existing IT infrastructure, Omnicell solutions empower healthcare facilities to achieve comprehensive automation of medication and supply management from the arrival at the loading dock to the patient's bedside. Omnicell also provides healthcare facilities with business analytics software designed to improve medication diversion detection and regulatory compliance.

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