One Of “America’s Best Hospitals”, Michigan’s William Beaumont, To Use Pharmacy Automation Technology To Increase Safety, Efficiency

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., May 2, 2006 – ForHealth Technologies, Inc., the maker of the first high-throughput automation for the preparation of patient-ready, bar-coded, i.v. medications in  syringes,  announced today one of the nation’s leading hospitals, William Beaumont of Royal Oak, Mich., has purchased its pharmacy robotic technology to improve medication administration and efficiency.

In keeping with its long history of providing the Detroit-area community with the latest technology to increase safety and control operating costs, Beaumont joins many leading hospitals around the country, including Johns Hopkins and Miami Children’s, to select ForHealth’s IntelliFill i.v. system.

"Providing the safest, highest quality medical care is a top priority at Beaumont, so our pharmacy department continues to invest in advanced technology such as the IntelliFill i.v. robot,” said Kathy Pawlicki, M.S., FASHP, director, Pharmacy, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak. “IntelliFill integrates smoothly into our existing processes, providing automation for a key part of our pharmacy operations."

IntelliFill i.v. automates the compounding and labeling of intravenous medication 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 bar codes, IntelliFill i.v. contributes to the reduction of  medication errors.  IntelliFill i.v.’s ISO Class 4 environment assures that the final i.v. product 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.

With more than nine million patient-use syringes prepared in U.S. hospitals by its IntelliFill i.v. robots, ForHealth understands the challenges and rigorous requirements hospitals and healthcare organizations currently face to improve accuracy, productivity and sterility. ForHealth’s innovations have set new standards for hospital pharmacies in patient safety, cost efficiency and improved compliance with new regulations such as U. S. Pharmacopoeia <797>.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to work closely with William Beaumont Hospital, one of Michigan’s leading hospitals, and we’re honored they’ve chosen our company to help them improve the safety of their patients with one of the latest advances in healthcare technology,” said Douglas J. Zurawski, Pharm.D., ForHealth’s national vice president of sales. “Patient safety has been cited as the top priority of most executives at large health systems and Beaumont is demonstrating its genuine commitment to this ever-important goal by purchasing IntelliFill i.v.”

Last year, U.S. News and World Report included William Beaumont in its annual list of "America's Best Hospitals." The magazine praised the Royal Oak facility in 11 medical specialties (cancer, digestive disorders, ear, nose & throat, geriatrics, gynecology, heart/heart surgery, hormonal disorders, kidney disease, neurology/neurosurgery, orthopedics and urology). Only five Michigan hospitals were named to the list in 2005.

About Beaumont Hospitals
Beaumont Hospitals consists of two hospitals located in Royal Oak and Troy, Michigan with six community-based medical centers, a rehabilitation/health center, primary and specialty care clinics, four extended care facilities, a research institute, home care and hospice. Beaumont's 1,061-bed hospital in Royal Oak is a major teaching, research and referral center with Level I trauma designation that ranks first in the U.S. for inpatient admissions and second in the U.S. for total surgeries.  Beaumont's 254-bed acute-care facility in Troy is among the nation's leading community hospitals. Beaumont has more than 2,400 private-practice physicians in more than 91 medical and surgical specialties. Visit Beaumont's Web site at www.beaumonthospitals.com.

About ForHealth Technologies, Inc.
Founded in 1998, ForHealth Technologies, Inc., a leader in automated devices for intravenous drug preparation, is committed to increasing patient safety and decreasing operating costs by automating the preparation of small-volume injectable medications in healthcare organizations worldwide. Offering safety, accuracy, efficiency and reliability, its IntelliFill i.v. automates the preparation of i.v. syringes, greatly enhancing both the safety of patients and the efficiency of hospital pharmacies. For more information, please visit www.fhtinc.com.