ForHealth Technologies, Inc. Release: Leading Mississippi Hospital Joins Growing List Of U.S. Hospitals To Purchase Pharmacy IV Automation

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- ForHealth Technologies Inc., a leader in automated devices for intravenous drug preparation, announced today that Forrest General Hospital of Hattiesburg, Miss. will install and use ForHealth's i.v. pharmacy robotic technology IntelliFill i.v. to place additional emphasis on patient safety and efficiency.

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"Forrest General Hospital is always a leader in new technology," said Bill Oliver, Forrest General president. "We strive to enhance the care of our patients and improve the efficiency of our staff. We believe this investment will meet both of these goals and will be an important part of our future care process."

IntelliFill i.v. automates the compounding and labeling of intravenous doses in syringes at speeds that can only be achieved through automated processes. By employing bar code scanning, vision systems and weight confirmation steps, and by providing final products that are identified with barcodes, IntelliFill i.v. reduces medication errors. Further, by providing a Class 10 compounding environment, IntelliFill i.v. assures that the final i.v. product produced is of the highest quality. The system also promotes long- term hospital cost savings by preparing the final intravenous products in a syringe instead of an i.v. bag.

"We compound approximately 1,500 intravenous admixtures every day," said Steve Albritton, Forrest General Pharmacy director. "This technology will give us the ability to prepare a large percentage of these admixtures using automation. A bar coded end product ultimately will decrease the potential for error and will be more accurate and safer for our patients."

"With over three million patient-use syringes prepared in hospitals by our IntelliFill i.v. robots, we understand the requirements for accuracy, productivity and sterility in the IntelliFill i.v. system," said Rod Wolford, chairman and CEO of ForHealth Technologies, Inc. "ForHealth's innovations are setting new standards for hospital pharmacies in patient safety, cost efficiency and compliance with new regulations such as U. S. Pharmacopoeia <797>. With over 24 US patents in process, we clearly are well-positioned to continue to bring technological innovation to the i.v. compounding process."

A growing list of major healthcare organizations have purchased and installed IntelliFill i.v., including Children's Medical Center of Dallas, Texas; Spectrum Health of Grand Rapids, Mich.; Children's Hospital and Clinics in Minneapolis, Minn.; Providence Healthcare of Portland, Ore.; Ft. Walton Beach Medical Center of Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.; St. Vincent Health Center of Erie, Pa.; Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center of Hartford, Conn., and Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati, OH.

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CONTACT: Joel Osborne, ForHealth Technologies, Inc., +1-386-274-4447, orjosborne@fhtinc.com; or Kevin Punsky, Dalton Agency, +1-904-398-5222, orkpunsky@daltonagency.com, for ForHealth Technologies

Web site: http://www.fhtinc.com/