Omnicell Enhances Unity Enterprise Platform to Allow Increased Interoperability for Hospitals and Health Systems
Integration Focuses on Medication Automation with the Epic EHR and with Operating Room Solutions
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnicell, Inc., (NASDAQ: OMCL) today announced the general availability of its Unity enterprise platform, the premier medication and supply automation solution for use in a wide range of patient care venues throughout hospitals and health care systems. The latest 19.5 release now includes enhanced interoperability between the Epic electronic health record (EHR) and the Omnicell® automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) to meet the needs of health care providers. Through a partnership with Codonics, the Unity enterprise platform version 19.5 also includes an interoperable medication safety solution for the operating room that integrates the Omnicell Anesthesia Workstation with the Codonics Safe Label System.
As part of the 19.5 software release, Omnicell and Epic customers will be able to integrate two separate operations into one application, the EHR. Nurses are responsible for interacting with the automated medication dispensing cabinets, and research has shown that 33% of the time they spend at the cabinets can be eliminated when true interoperability between systems is achieved.i Through the interoperability developed with Epic at Hackensack University Medical Center, nurses can now login to the EHR to preselect medications to be removed from the Omnicell cabinet, check availability of medications in real time in the cabinet, and even document waste. Watch the video of Omnicell Interoperable Solutions.
This integration, which was demonstrated at the HIMSS 2015 Conference, streamlines the medication order process, eliminating redundancies and allows nurses to spend more time on patient care.
"In central pharmacy, we realized we needed complete integration between our medication order system and EHR to better serve our nurses and ensure they are spending the maximum amount of time with patients, as opposed to administrative tasks," said Nilesh Desai, director of pharmacy at HackensackUMC. "By developing interoperability with Epic, Omnicell has created a solution that helps us achieve this goal. Our nurses love the new integration which enables the remote management of medications through the health record, their single source of truth, helping to reduce errors and provide safer medication management processes."
Ensuring medication safety and accuracy in the OR is vital for both patients and treating physicians. The integration of the Codonics Safe Label System with Omnicell's Anesthesia Workstation creates an advanced solution for the operating room (OR) suite that promotes safety, consistency and efficiency. By confirming a medication's identity and printing a detailed label for the medication, the Safe Label System helps reduce the three most common medication errors that occur in the OR including vial/ampoule swaps, mislabeling, and syringe swaps, providing an ultimate safety check at the point of medication administration. The unique integration between the Anesthesia Workstation and the Safe Label System saves steps for anesthesia providers—which is critical in high pressure OR environments. For example, a single login provides access to both systems simultaneously.
"As a result of expanding our Unity platform, we believe we are better suited to meet the scalable needs of larger hospitals and health systems, as well as providing smaller hospital facilities with state-of-the-art patient care," said Jorge Taborga, executive vice president, Engineering at Omnicell. "We're excited to offer availability of our Epic EHR interoperability to health care providers looking to improve nursing workflows, while integrating our solutions into existing platforms. We believe this upgraded 19.5 platform supports our three-pronged goal of integration, interoperability and scalability, as we equip customers with solutions that help them improve the clinical care of patients."
About Omnicell
Since 1992, 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 for patient-centric medication and supply management across the entire health care continuum—from the acute care hospital setting to post-acute skilled nursing and long-term care facilities to the home.
More than 3,000 customers worldwide have utilized Omnicell Automation and Analytics solutions to increase operational efficiency, reduce errors, deliver actionable intelligence and improve patient safety. Omnicell Medication Adherence solutions, including its MTS Medication Technologies brand, provide innovative medication adherence packaging solutions to help reduce costly hospital readmissions. In addition, these solutions 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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i South Jersey Healthcare. Vineland, NJ. Data from cabinet log analysis. (2009)
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SOURCE Omnicell, Inc.
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