McKesson today will introduce the PROmanager-Rx™
system, an innovative solution that enables hospitals for the
first time to fully automate the dispensing of tablets, capsules, and
other oral solid medications that come pre-packaged from drug
manufacturers in unit-dose, bar-coded form.
By retaining the original manufacturer packaging — widely recognized as
the safest type — the new PROmanager-Rx system helps hospital pharmacies
increase accuracy. In addition, pharmacists are freed from packaging and
dispensing activities so they can play more integral roles on the
clinical care team.
PROmanager-Rx will be unveiled at the 44th Midyear Clinical
Meeting and Exhibition of the American Society of Health-System
Pharmacists (ASHP) in Las Vegas. The unveiling event will be simulcast
via www.PROmanager-Rx.com.
The system currently is installed at Riverside
Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, part of the OhioHealth
system.
“Automation of the picking process, improved safety, and increased staff
satisfaction make PROmanager-Rx a big win for us,” said Charles
McCluskey, Pharm.D., director of pharmacy and pulmonary services at
Riverside. “On the front end, we can order a pre-packaged product
directly from a wholesaler, receive it, and immediately put it into our
medication-use process with no need for repackaging. Because we have a
check waiver in place from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, we can improve
patient safety at the same time we're minimizing pharmacist involvement
in cart fill.”
PROmanager-Rx is ideal for patient-centric filing, and directly supports
bar-code medication administration operations. Bar-code-driven robotics
scan every dose for the greatest possible safety and accuracy. It
features sophisticated order processing and inventory management
software to increase inventory turns, manage expired and returned
medications, and streamline wholesale ordering.
PROmanager-Rx accommodates more than 90 percent of the oral solid
medications that are in use and available from U.S. drug manufacturers
today, including a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Unit-dose packages
produced by SKY Packaging, a McKesson company, are certified for use in
PROmanager-Rx. The SKY product line includes the most widely prescribed
dosages and strengths in generic oral solid medications used by acute
care, long-term care and institutional pharmacies.
“The combination of manufacturer packaging, bar-code scanning of every
dose, and sophisticated software makes PROmanager-Rx the safest
automated pharmacy system available today,” said David Souerwine,
president, McKesson Automation. “In addition to the highest levels of
safety, this system also reduces the packaging burden inside the
hospital, saving both time and money.”
With its sleek design and small footprint, PROmanager-Rx is easily
installed and supported with minimal changes to the existing facility.
The system operates on McKesson’s unique Connect-Rx® software
platform and complements McKesson’s other bar-code-driven medication-use
process solutions.
Through Fulfill-RxSM
software, PROmanager-Rx interfaces with McKesson’s pharmaceutical
distribution system. Fulfill-Rx helps reduce drug inventory costs and
associated labor with a two-way electronic data interchange between
McKesson’s pharmaceutical distribution centers and hospital automation
solutions.
Also at the event, McKesson will debut the CytoCare™
Robot. Through automation, CytoCare improves the safety, accuracy,
and cost-effectiveness of oncology IV admixtures in hospital pharmacies.
This past August, McKesson became the exclusive North American
distributor of CytoCare, made by Health
Robotics. McKesson also will demonstrate its new Anesthesia-Rx™
medication dispensing cart that provides anesthesiologists and certified
registered nurse anesthetists with greater medication and narcotic
control in the operating room.
http://www.mckesson.com/