Omnicell and Codonics Partner to Deliver Unsurpassed Anesthesia Medication Management Compliance

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnicell, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMCL), a leading provider of medication and supply management solutions and analytics software for healthcare providers, today announced its partnership with Codonics, a global leader in patient safety and image documentation solutions. Omnicell will resell Codonics Safe Label System SLS 500i with Omnicell's Anesthesia Workstation automated medication and supply dispensing cabinet to provide comprehensive bar code medication labeling. As a result, healthcare organizations will enjoy greater oversight in operating rooms to maximize safety and compliance to standards, bringing checks and balances to this fast-paced environment.

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Recent estimates reveal that 81 percent of all hospital medication errors occur in the operating room (OR) and post-anesthesia care unit, often due to the paper-based validation of anesthesia medications after administration.[i] In order to ensure medication labeling accuracy and compliance prior to administration, the Codonics FDA-cleared SLS 500i utilizes bar code technology to electronically confirm drug selection from Omnicell's Anesthesia Workstation. SLS labels are Joint Commission-compliant and color-coded based on American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) defined drug classifications. Additionally every medication label produced by the SLS includes a 2D bar code, allowing for pre-administration verification with the anesthesia record and electronic medical record (EMR) to document the anesthesia report. Combined, the two technologies can electronically reduce medication errors made during the selection, preparation and administration of injectable and intravenous medications, effectively helping to ensure that the right medication is administered to the right patients prior to, during and after surgery.

"Hospitals that implement the Safe Label System reduce the three most common medication errors that occur in the OR including vial and ampoule swaps, mislabeling, and syringe swaps, providing a safer level of care to their patients," said Peter Botten, president and CEO of Codonics. "The partnership between Codonics and Omnicell enables healthcare providers to significantly enhance medication safety and regulatory compliance wherever medications are prepared. Our technologies work seamlessly together, creating a reassuring and industry-leading approach to medication management for patients around the globe."

"At Texas Children's Hospital, my team has been leveraging Omnicell's Anesthesia Workstation in conjunction with Codonics Safe Label System for the last six months," said Karen Gurwitch, director of pharmacy at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas. "Utilizing the systems together, they provide the anesthesiology team a more efficient and safe mechanism for accessing and labeling medications. We have partnered with the Anesthesiology Quality Committee department and identified strategies to minimize opportunities for medication-related incidents and believed coupling these pieces of technology should be a part of the plan."

Omnicell's Anesthesia Workstation is designed to give anesthesia providers instant access to medications while ensuring tighter pharmacy control in the operating room. This automated system securely stores medications and supplies needed for a full day of cases in one convenient place and automatically tracks inventory used, cutting hours of manual documentation and reducing potential drug diversion. When paired with the Codonics Safe Label System an additional layer of safety is provided. The clinician removes the medication from the Anesthesia Workstation and scans the bar code. The SLS immediately confirms the drug against the hospital's formulary, provides a visual and audible confirmation of the drug name and concentration, allows for dilutions and then prints a full-color, compliant label which the clinician applies directly to the prepared medication, eliminating the need to handwrite medication labels.

"In the operating room, medication administration errors are not an option—plain and simple," said Nhat H. Ngo, executive vice president, strategy and business development at Omnicell. "As hospitals of all sizes aim to improve patient safety and deliver quality care, Omnicell is pleased to partner with Codonics. Our Anesthesia Workstation working seamlessly with Codonics' Safe Label System, can provide unparalleled patient safety benefits. I am confident that together our products will help hospitals reach their goals of delivering the safest, most secure delivery of medication in the OR today."

About Codonics Inc.

Codonics is a global business focused on the patient, providing healthcare with the most advanced patient safety and medical imaging products in the world from our Cleveland, Ohio, headquarters. Our mission is to be a trusted advisor in healthcare, offering outstanding products and services that enable providers to create a new standard of safe care for their patients. Codonics is represented in 110 countries with more than 30,000 product installations in renowned, cutting-edge medical facilities throughout the world. Codonics has been highly recognized for export success and product innovation, including the coveted U.S. President's E-Award for exporting excellence. For more information about Codonics, please visit www.codonics.com.

About Omnicell

For over 20 years the mission of Omnicell (NASDAQ: OMCL) has been creating new efficiencies to improve patient care, anywhere it is delivered. Omnicell is a leading supplier of comprehensive automation and business analytics software solutions for patient-centric medication and supply management across the entire healthcare continuum, from the acute care hospital setting to post-acute skilled nursing and long-term care facilities to the home.

Since 1992, more than 2,600 Acute Care customers worldwide have utilized Omnicell's medication automation, supply chain and analytics solutions to increase operational efficiency, reduce errors, deliver actionable intelligence and improve patient safety. Omnicell Non-Acute Care solutions, including its MTS Medication Technologies brand, provide innovative medication adherence packaging solutions that can reduce costly hospital readmissions and enable approximately 6,000 institutional and retail pharmacies worldwide to maintain high accuracy and quality standards in medication dispensing and administration while optimizing productivity and controlling costs.

For more information about Omnicell, Inc. please visit www.omnicell.com.

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Editor's Notes:

1. All Omnicell news releases (financial, acquisitions, products, technology etc.) are issued exclusively by PR Newswire and are immediately thereafter posted on the company's external website, omnicell.com.
2. Omnicell and the Omnicell logo design are registered trademarks of Omnicell, Inc. OptiFlex is a trademark of Omnicell, Inc.
3. All other brand or product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

[i] MEDMARX Data Report: A Chartbook of 1998-2004 Findings from the Perioperative Setting; 2006  

SOURCE Omnicell, Inc.

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