OPELOUSAS, La., March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The installation of nurse-designed SafetyMed RN, an advanced bedside solution for reducing medication errors, will continue at Opelousas General Health System (OGHS) this coming week as the nation celebrates National Patient Safety Week, March 6-12.
An Omnicell, Inc. team is currently installing SafetyMed RN in nursing units throughout OGHS.
SafetyMed RN helps ensure patient safety by performing verification checks at the patient’s bedside when medication is administered. Nurses may use a variety of hardware devices to access the SafetyMed RN system. The system utilizes bar code scanning technology to capture and input data from the patient’s wristband, medication packaging, and the nurse’s own identification badge. SafetyMed RN can also function if bar codes are unavailable.
“We applaud the efforts of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) to educate the healthcare community about patient safety issues and to vigorously promote the goal of making the hospital environment increasingly safe for patients,” said Randall A. Lipps, Omnicell’s chairman, president and CEO.
It was Lipps’ own experience with a hospitalized daughter that led to the founding of Omnicell more than a decade ago with a primary goal of improving patient safety. At the time, he noted the general lack of technology for automating the supply chain within hospitals.
Omnicell’s MedGuard(TM) line of products give hospitals powerful tools for managing the medication-use process, from the central pharmacy to the bedside. MedGuard solutions employ state-of-the-art bar code technology and sophisticated software to help prevent medication errors.
Omnicell will participate in the Annual NPSF Patient Safety Congress May 4 - 6, 2005 in Orlando, Fla.
About Omnicell
Established in 1992, Omnicell is a leading provider of patient safety solutions preferred by nurses. Improving patient care by enhancing operational efficiency, Omnicell solutions are used throughout the healthcare facility -- in the pharmacy, nursing units, surgical services, cath lab, and all the way to the patient’s bedside. The company’s MedGuard line of solutions for the medication-use process includes systems for physician order management, automated pharmacy retrieval, medication packaging, medication dispensing, and nursing workflow automation with bar code medication administration. For the medical-surgical supply chain, Omnicell’s OptiFlex(TM) product line provides open bar code systems, cabinet-based supply management, integrated open and cabinet-based systems, and Web-based procurement. More than 1,500 healthcare facilities use Omnicell solutions to help reduce medication errors, operate more efficiently, and decrease costs -- ultimately contributing to improved clinical and financial outcomes. For more information, visit http://www.omnicell.com/.
Omnicell, Inc.
CONTACT: Bruce Lewis of Lewis & Summers Public Relations,+1-707-964-3844, or bruce@prwebsite.com, for Omnicell, Inc.
Web site: http://www.omnicell.com/