Rush-Copley Medical Center, a 183-bed, Aurora, Ill.-based hospital, launched an initiative to install a bar-code-based, closed-loop system from Atlanta -based McKesson to automate its medication-use process from start to finish.
The company says pharmacists will use the Horizon’s pharmacy information system to electronically receive, verify, and process a clinician’s order for patient medications. Medications will be packaged in individual doses imprinted with bar codes using its high-speed packager, and the prescribed medication will be selected by the automated ROBOT-Rx system. Nurses will then use Horizon’s bar-code scanning system to electronically verify and document the “five rights” of medication administration.
The integrated system also shares drug formulary information, enabling Rush-Copley to improve medication inventory management and cut costs, says the company.
