|
|
||||
A safer, more efficient drug distribution processA new type of vending machine has been placed in the New Ulm Medical Center, but it doesn’t sell snacks or soda. This machine doesn’t accept coins or tokens, can only be accessed by approved individuals and distributes patient medications. By the end of September, 11 Pyxis machines, each holding hundreds of drugs, will be serving nine different areas of the medical center. In no way are the machines intended to replace health care professionals, rather the high-tech equipment ultimately will allow for a more streamlined, efficient and flexible approach to providing patient medications in a safe and timely way, said medical center pharmacy manager, Reid Horning, Pharm. D. “This is especially important to our mission of providing quality care to the patients of our community,” Horning said. “With the traditional model, the pharmacy receives an order, reviews it, fills it, verifies it’s been filled correctly and then finally sends it down to the floor for the nurse to give to the patient,” Horning said. “With the Pyxis model, the pharmacy receives an order, reviews it and it is instantly available via the Pyxis machine.” Because medical center pharmacists update orders and patient profiles on the Pyxis computer network as soon as a medication is ordered, the Pyxis knows exactly what can be released to a particular patient at any given time. After the automated medical record becomes effective in December, the system will become even more efficient, Horning said. “Once we incorporate Pyxis into the automated medical record we will be able to reduce the length time it takes to get the medication to the patient,” Horning explained. “With the traditional system, there is time spent getting the paper order to the pharmacy, it takes more time for pharmacy to process the order, then it takes time to actually fill the order and even more time to get the medication down to the patient.” Horning explained how the new system will work. “Let’s say a patient get orders for a certain medication to lower blood pressure. The pharmacist gets the order and checks it for allergies and interactions against the patient’s medical record. If everything is appropriate, the pharmacist enters it into the computer and it is released. When it’s time for the medications to be administered on the floor, the nurse selects the patient’s name from a touch screen and listed under that patient’s name is the approved list of medications from the pharmacy.” When the nurse selects the approved medication, a drawer slides open and the compartment containing the appropriate medication automatically opens. What’s more, Horning added, is that a state-of-the-art fingerprint bioscanner prevents unapproved individuals from accessing any information or medications stored in the machine. When nurses log onto the Pyxis, they only have access to information on their assigned patients. The initiative to place the Pyxis machines throughout the medical center is part of a larger Allina Hospitals & Clinics program aimed at ensuring patient safety. “All of Allina’s hospitals are going toward this, but we’re sort of unique in that we are one of the first regional medical center’s to implement the full project,” Horning said. The medical center had one Pyxis prior to purchasing the 10 others, which had a total cost of approximately $600,000. Horning added that another huge advantage of the Pyxis machines is that they will give the medical center 24-hour access to pharmaceutical care despite not having a 24-hour pharmacy. “Because we are a part of Allina, we will have access to an off-site pharmacist, who is based at St. Francis Hospital in Shakopee and will serve multiple sites, so it’s a shared position,” Horning said. “That person will have access to patient records through the automated medical record system. So, for example, when orders are put into the system, the off-site pharmacist can view all of New Ulm’s orders online, verify the orders for accuracy – doing all the checks the pharmacy here would do – and release the drugs to our Pyxis. The nurse in New Ulm can then administer the medication to the patient. “Our ability to use technology to provide 24-pharmacy services, even when we have no in-house pharmacist, is just one example of the many benefits Pyxis will bring to our patients,” Horning said. |
||||
|
||||
New Ulm Medical Center
|
||||
|
||||
