Global Pharma Management

Hospital nurses are dispensing medications faster than ever and reporting more efficient workflow with newly redesigned AcuDose-Rx® automated medication cabinets from McKesson. Operating on the latest Connect-Rx® software platform, Version 6.8, the cabinets enable significant reductions in medication dispensing time and provide substantially greater inventory management capabilities.

The new Connect-Rx release makes AcuDose-Rx the only unit-based cabinet on the market to integrate with point-of-care administration tools and pharmacy automation equipment. As a result, hospitals can provide greater patient safety and process efficiency at a low cost.

Pharmacy Manager Brian Nesemeier said, The cabinets are linked via the Connect-Rx software platform to multiple automation systems in the medical center’s pharmacy, medication rooms, and patient care areas. The new AcuDose-Rx functionality has led to improved nursing workflow and reduced wait times at the cabinet while also ensuring patient safety and security.   The nurses especially love the new FastEntry™ biometric identification log-in. They were surprised and delighted at how easy it is to use and how much time it saves.

For MedCarousel, the new software calculates optimal medication inventory, projects when the pre-set minimum/maximum levels are at risk, and automatically selects the drugs for re-order. This helps reduce medication stock issues, increase inventory turns and decrease the amount of time required to pick orders.

Other new AcuDose-Rx cabinet features powered by Connect-Rx Version 6.8 software include scanning of manufacturer bar codes to verify medications for storage and dispense, and the ability to quickly search all medicine cabinets across a hospital. The software allows hospitals to more easily dispense medication kits, issue under- and over-dose warnings and enforce organizational policies for drug substitution.

Another advantage of AcuDose-Rx cabinets is that they integrate with the McKesson CarePoint Connect™ mobile point-of-care enabling software. CarePoint Connect enables nurses to access a patient’s medication profile, create and queue a dispense list so medications are waiting at the cabinet, and alert the pharmacy of a missing medication, refill request, or other information. Nurses also get cabinet-level access to the First DataBank hospital-wide drug library.

Dave Souerwine, president of McKesson’s Automation Solutions Group, The Connect-Rx integrated software platform surpasses all industry functionality on the market today. It’s viewed by industry experts as at least two generations ahead of competing software solutions. Connect-Rx provides the foundation that hospitals need to deliver safe, cost-effective care, and enables hospitals to maximize their investment while improving safety and workforce productivity.