Cardinal Health Expands Integration Capabilities for Automated Dispensing Cabinets

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Dec 03, 2010, 08:00 ET

DUBLIN, Ohio, Dec. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- At this week's 45th Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) in Anaheim, Calif., Cardinal Health announced that it is expanding its CardinalASSIST® automated medication replenishment service to integrate with multiple brands of automated dispensing cabinets.

Cardinal Health will integrate CardinalASSIST with automated dispensing systems from Omnicell, which are used by approximately 1,600 hospitals nationwide. This partnership is a natural evolution for Cardinal Health, building on the company's last decade of success in helping hospitals streamline medication ordering and replenishment through the integration of CardinalASSIST with Pyxis MedStation(TM) systems from CareFusion.

"Supporting a broader array of automated dispensing systems is a critical part of our commitment to helping customers improve medication safety and maximize their technology investments," said Doug Roberts, national vice president of Pharmaceutical Acute Care Sales for Cardinal Health. "This kind of expanded integration capability is an excellent example of our commitment to partnering with hospitals to ensure medications move safely and efficiently from the drug manufacturer all the way to patient bedside."

Today's announcement is part of an expanded hospital pharmacy technology strategy that Cardinal Health announced in October. Through this new strategy, the company integrates its distribution services with the pharmacy technology systems each customer prefers, instead of requiring customers to invest in specific technology solutions. This approach supports each hospital's unique technology vision and needs, aiming to improve medication safety, increase efficiency, contain costs and maximize each hospital's current and future investments in pharmacy automation.

In addition to automated dispensing cabinets, Cardinal Health has also created integration protocols for carousels, robots, re-packaging equipment and software from pharmacy technology providers including CareFusion, Sentry Data Systems, Inc., Swisslog and Talyst.

Cardinal Health will also continue to evaluate the marketplace for additional opportunities to integrate technology capabilities to further optimize the hospital pharmacy supply chain.

Hospital pharmacies interested in more information about Cardinal Health's expanded technology integration offering can contact [email protected].

About Cardinal Health

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $99 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices focus on patient care while reducing costs, improving efficiency and quality, and increasing profitability. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products to more than 60,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operating the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #17 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at cardinalhealth.com.