SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) Convention, an official public standards-setting authority for all prescription and over-the-counter medicines sold in the United States, on December 4, 2008 transferred all rights, ownership and management of the overall MEDMARX reporting program to Quantros. This announcement comes one year after Quantros and USP formalized a strategic partnership wherein Quantros assumed all operations, support, marketing and sales for the MEDMARX program. During the past year Quantros has accelerated enhancements to the MEDMARX platform including seamless integration with the Quantros Safety and Risk Management (SRM) solution for patient safety to provide greater visibility and analysis capabilities related to Medication Errors and Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). Quantros and USP have worked collaboratively over the past year to create a more robust database of medication errors and provide broader access to the MEDMARX program. These efforts have led to an expanded comparative medication error events data repository for the advancement of medication safety improvement efforts within healthcare. According to USP, “Quantros is well positioned to take over the complete MEDMARX operation, from data collection to analysis to dissemination.”
Under the terms of this transition, Quantros will take full ownership of the MEDMARX program and all associated intellectual property. Quantros will continue to further and manage all aspects of the MEDMARX program including operations, support, application enhancement and sales and marketing as it has done for the past year. In addition, Quantros will work with the MEDMARX program to support public health knowledge concerning medication errors and ADRs. The MEDMARX program will continue to be offered as a standalone application or as an integrated offering with Quantros SRM. Quantros will continue to collaborate with USP to assist in their ongoing data standards initiatives based on the knowledge created from the MEDMARX program.
Quantros continues to expand its presence in the patient safety arena. With the advent of Patient Safety Organizations (PSO), heightened consumer awareness and sensitivity towards medical errors, and new reimbursement rules surrounding preventable medical errors, the need for actionable, intelligent knowledge is at a premium. With the Quantros data repository expanding across safety, quality, compliance and financial performance data, there is a pressing need for aggregated views for making informed decisions on which interventions and actions will have the greatest benefit to a healthcare organization. The MEDMARX data repository is a key component of this expanded presence and knowledge base.
“We appreciate USP entrusting Quantros with the MEDMARX program and for ensuring its continued value is available to the healthcare industry,” said Dr. Sanjaya Kumar, Quantros President and Chief Medical Officer. “Together, the two organizations have focused their combined efforts on delivering high value medication related clinical informatics solutions, assisting healthcare providers in capturing key data and evaluating medication errors and ADRs. This has enabled healthcare professionals to determine the impact of medication errors, thereby improving their care delivery systems and processes.”
According to Roger L. Williams, Executive Vice President and CEO, USP, “The MEDMARX program has reached the level of development where there is greater benefit to public health for USP to transfer core activities of this program to Quantros, our strategic partner, who will bring the program to the next level of effectiveness and impact.”
Today the MEDMARX program provides subscription-based users with access to the world’s largest anonymous and de-identified medication error and ADR records repository. The MEDMARX database contains more than 1.5 million records and is increasing at a rate of more than one percent month over month. To find out more about gaining access to and utilizing the MEDMARX program, email info@quantros.com or call 1-877-QUANTROS (782-6876).
About Quantros
Quantros provides real-time solutions for safety and risk management, outcomes and performance monitoring, accreditation and compliance, and surveillance and decision support for leading healthcare providers throughout the nation. Quantros’ web delivered applications provide a standard platform that creates actionable knowledge that helps its clients save lives, improve quality, and conserve assets. Through a variety of direct sales and vendor partners, more than 2,000 healthcare facilities use Quantros’ web-based technology solutions every day.
Quantros team members include physicians, nurses and healthcare professionals as well as an experienced team of information technology specialists. Visit Quantros on the web at http://www.quantros.com.
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices is a nonprofit organization recognized worldwide as the premier education resource for understanding and preventing medication errors. ISMP represents more than 30 years of experience in helping keep patients safe, and continues to lead efforts to improve the medication use process. Working with health care practitioners and institutions, regulatory and accrediting agencies, consumers, professional organizations, the pharmaceutical industry, and others, ISMP also provides timely, accurate medication safety information to the healthcare community, policy makers, and the general public. For more information on ISMP, or to read more about the 2004 ISMP Medication Safety Self Assessment for Hospitals, visit the Institute’s web site at http://www.ismp.org.
CONTACT: Chris Bethell of Quantros, Inc, +1-408-957-3300, Fax,
+1-408-957-3320; or Dan Conley of Beacon, +1-312-423-7944,
dconley@beaconpr.com, for Quantros
Web site: http://www.quantros.com/
http://www.ismp.org/
