White River Medical Center Uses Meta Pharmacy System to Support Distance Medication Dispensing

Hospital 35 miles away takes advantage of medication safety technologies

Floral Park, NY (PRWEB) January 9, 2009 -- Meta, a supplier of comprehensive medication safety information systems for the healthcare industry, announced today that White River Medical Center (WRMC), located in Batesville, AR, is using its medication information safety system to support remote automated dispensing machines at Stone County Medical Center (SCMC), located 35 miles from the White River facility. Both hospitals are part of the White River Health System.

This remote link allows WRMC pharmacists to provide remote medication order entry and real time review of medication orders for appropriateness of doses, as well as screening for medication allergies and drug-drug interactions. Although 35 miles away, SCMC functions as a virtual nursing unit of WRMC, allowing nurses at SCMC immediate access to medications in their dispensing machines. Two goals are achieved with this arrangement - orders for every patient are reviewed and verified by a pharmacist and nurses have access to medications without using an antiquated medication cart fill each day.

"Implementation of this unique technology has had a significant impact on patient care through the reduction of medication errors, adverse drug reactions and drug-drug interactions," explained Jody Smotherman, PharmD, Co-director of Pharmacy Services at White River Medical Center. "It has also produced improvements in employee and nursing job satisfaction as well as improved drug charge capture. A major unexpected benefit was realized in February of 2008 when an F-3 tornado struck Mountain View, destroyed part of SCMC and forced the closing of the pharmacy area. Without our remote order entry and automated dispensing machines, there would have been no access to medications after the storm."

"Jody's unique concept is an excellent example of how 'thinking outside the box' can overcome many of the challenges that face today's healthcare delivery systems," remarked Sal Barcia, CEO of Meta. "He conceived a way to improve medication dispensing and patient safety using the technology that was available to him. It is our understanding that WRMC and SCMC are the first hospitals in the state of Arkansas to deploy remote order entry. We are pleased that our system has been so effective in reducing medication errors and improving outcomes in the state."

About White River Health System
White River Health System is a not-for-profit, multi-facility healthcare organization serving residents of North Central Arkansas. The system includes two hospitals, numerous medical clinics, physician offices, outpatient therapy centers, long-term care facilities, two home health agencies, hospice, and a home medical equipment company. White River Health System is a major employer in the region with more than 1,300 employees. As a not-for-profit healthcare system, revenues generated over expenses are reinvested into healthcare technology, facility improvements and new clinical services.

Source

Searsport prescribes to telepharmacy technology

SEARSPORT (July 24): The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday, July 22 to proceed with a grant application that would make Searsport the first town in Maine to explore a new approach to the way pharmacies operate.

At a public hearing, selectmen discussed applying for grant money through the state Community Development Block Grant program to explore the feasibility of bringing a pharmacy into town.

Last year, Waltz Pharmacy closed its Main Street store.

Selectman Dick Desmarais said for several months he has worked on getting a drug store to Searsport, but that he was having difficulty finding a company or individual willing to make a move.

After contacting several in-state pharmacy chains and schools of pharmacy in Massachusetts and Connecticut, Desmarais said he contacted Chris Shrum with Eastern Maine Development Corporation in Bangor.

Two weeks later, Shrum pitched an idea that would bring a pharmacy into Searsport and provide technology to serve health centers in surrounding towns through a networking system of Massachusetts-based company, CBSRx.

Shrum said the firm takes on a variety of roles with regard to prescriptions. CBSRx has been instrumental in getting a profitable pharmacy into the Deer Isle-Stonington community, and has worked with a hospital in Sanford on fine-tuning its existing pharmacy.

“They make sure the hospital takes advantage of all the programs it can, and that they get as much reimbursement as possible from the insurance companies,” said Shrum.

Desmarais, Town Manager James Gillway, Economic Development Committee chairperson Dianne Smith and Shrum met with Jack Hellmann, CEO and president of CBSRx.

“The response was very, very good with them,” said Desmarais, adding it could lead to Searsport residents having a drug store “for many years to come.”

Hellmann, said Shrum, was vice president of operations for Rite Aid when it had 17 stores. Hellmann left Rite Aid 15 years ago after Rite Aid had opened about 2,500 stores.

Then he launched CBSRx.

And, said Shrum, Hellmann has been successful launching pharmacies. Part of Hellmann’s strategy is to conduct a market feasibility study in communities looking to partner with his company to ensure the store is needed.

“He’s figured out how to make it work in rural communities,” said Shrum. “… He’s never closed a pharmacy that he’s opened.”

EMDC, said Shrum, assists the town with the cost of the feasibility study in the form of the CDBG grant. Those grants, said Shrum, are part of a block of money - $12 million to $13 million - that the federal government annually sets aside for the state.

The funding is used for downtown planning, housing rehabilitation and municipal building restoration. for example, a CDBG grant was awarded to Searsport about nine years ago to assist with the cost of restoring Union Hall.

Once the board gives the go-ahead to apply for the CDBG funds, the town submits its grant application for the pharmacy feasibility study. Shrum said it takes four to six weeks to score the application, and if EMDC awards the grant, Searsport must hold another public hearing, followed by a townwide vote to accept the money.

Along with paying for the feasibility study, the funds will help plan ways of building a network of so-called satellite pharmacies.

The plan with CBSRx, said Shrum, would involve the establishment of a hub pharmacy, likely located at the former Waltz Pharmacy site, said Desmarais. That site is equipped with security systems that the state requires for businesses dealing with pharmaceuticals.

Once the hub pharmacy is established, CBSRx would assist in securing sites that could work as satellite pharmacies. The satellite sites, said Shrum, could include health-care facilities in Brooks, Lincolnville, and others under Waldo County Healthcare, Inc. umbrella.

Through that network, technology known in the industry as a "telepharmacy" would dispense medications through what Shrum likened to “candy machines” at satellite locations.

A doctor would prescribe medicine to a patient with a hand-held electronic device. That prescription would arrive at the hub in Searsport. A pharmacist at the hub would program the information for that particular prescription into the medication dispenser at a satellite location.

A physician, qualified nurse or pharmacist at the satellite location would check the prescription before giving it to the patient.

The medicine dispenser has a booth where patients can video conference with the pharmacist at the hub if they have questions about their medications.

Shrum said the nature of Searsport’s CDBG grant application would be the first of its kind in Maine in regard to its approach to how pharmacies operate.

Selectman Doug Norman asked if satellite locations could be susceptible to crime. Gillway said all sites are required to have security systems in place.

Desmarais said the upside is the town would not own the pharmacy; the board had established it did not want ownership.

Instead, Shrum said, an entity such as WCGH could serve as the owner of the pharmacy, and would contract with CBSRx. Shrum plans to meet soon with officials at Waldo County General Hospital to discuss the possibility of including the WCHI sites in the pharmacy network, and of the hospital taking ownership of the hub pharmacy.

Because of all the steps that must be taken to meet state and federal requirements, a hub pharmacy would not likely come to fruition before April, 2009.

Satellite locations would likely be online six to eight months later. The cost of one medication dispensing machine is $50,000 to $75,000, though Shrum said there was funding available to assist with those costs.

Source

Automated dispensing units ready for American homes

A couple of articles came out a while ago about some new hardware with web controls that you can remotely administer.

FDA Grants Clearance To INRange System's Electronic Medication Management Assistant - EMMA™

EMMA the Magic Medicine Cabinet Approved by FDA to Deliver Medicine with Pharmacy Web Commands

Coincidentally, a vulnerability was found in another Pharmacy program around the same time. This is the first time I've really heard of such a thing. I guess healthcare applications just aren't abundant enough out there accessible on the internet to cause it to be a big deal -- until these automated dispensing units hit American homes, that is. It's going to be interesting to see how long it takes these things to be hacked.

Telepharmacy project at the GLFHC West site

The Greater Lawrence Family Health Center recently announced the grand opening of the Telepharmacy project at the GLFHC West site, 700 Essex St. in Lawrence. The program is the first-of-its-kind project in Massachusetts which allows increased access to prescription drugs via remote medication dispensers.

"The Health Center has worked closely with the Board of Pharmacy, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences to help launch the program," according to Robert Ingala, GLFHC Chief Executive Officer. "MCPHS will work with the Center in order to help evaluate patient compliance and measure project successes." One way the Telepharmacy will improve patient compliance is its ability to print labels and directions in a patient's native language.

The Automated Drug Dispensing System (ADDS) allows pharmacists to reach more patients in more locations. The self-contained, computer-controlled automated prescription dispensing system which allows for the remote monitoring and dispensing of pre-packaged, unit-of-use pharmaceuticals is HIPPA-compliant. Along with the technology, patients are required to receive prescription counseling from the GLFHC pharmacist via a two-way audio and video system in a private counseling area.

From the clinical aspect, the ADDS system allows for quicker interaction with the patient, the pharmacist and the physician in the event of problems like drug interaction or insurance issues.

Source