Children’s Mercy Hospital Becomes Fifth Children’s Hospital to Select ForHealth’s IntelliFill i.v. to Automate IV Preparation
Kansas City, MO Children’s Hospital to Implement Robotic IV System as Part of Patient Safety Strategy
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA – April 10, 2007 – ForHealth Technologies Inc., makers of IntelliFill i.v.™, a high-speed robotic system for the preparation of IV medications in syringes, announced today that Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, has purchased its pharmacy robotic technology to automate its small volume IV preparation. Children’s Mercy Hospital is one of several children’s hospitals in the U.S. to implement the IntelliFill i.v. system in its inpatient pharmacy. The hospital plans to integrate the IV automation’s barcoded syringes with their bedside point-of-care system (BPOC) once the technology is fully implemented.
“Our patient safety strategy is focused on the entire medication use process. In the coming months, we plan to launch several initiatives, and our selection of IntelliFill i.v. to automate our IV preparation process is a key element of our overall strategy,” said Jack Lemanowicz, M.S., R.Ph., director of pharmacy, Children’s Mercy Hospital. “Currently, our IV preparation is a labor-intensive process, especially the weight-based dosing. With IntelliFill i.v., we will not only automate the process and gain efficiencies and accuracy, we will soon be producing barcoded syringes to deliver to the bedside, enabling us to take full advantage of the benefits of our BPOC system.”
The IntelliFill i.v. system automates the compounding and labeling of intravenous medication doses in syringes with a combination of accuracy, reliability and speed not possible using manual processes. The system employs barcode scanning, vision systems and weight confirmation steps, and delivers patient-labeled, barcoded syringes prepared in an ISO Class 4 environment. As a result, IntelliFill i.v. diminishes risks of touch contamination during preparation, lowers drug budget costs and reduces the likelihood of medication errors.
“As part of our evaluation process, we assessed every aspect of how IntelliFill could help us from both patient safety and cost savings standpoints, along with developing an ROI model,” said Lemanowicz. “We fully expect that IntelliFill will enable us to automate over 50% of our admixture. It’s going to be phenomenal for us.”
“Pharmacists and nurses in children's hospitals are faced daily with the special medication needs of pediatric and neonatal patients, whose weights can vary from below 500 grams to over 100 kg and whose ages range from minutes to 18 years,” says Rod Wolford, CEO, ForHealth Technologies. “We are very pleased Children’s Mercy has chosen our IntelliFill system to help maximize safety for their patients.”
About Children’s Mercy Hospital
Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics is recognized as one of the top children’s hospital in the country. It includes a state-of-the-art, 260-bed hospital in Kansas City, Mo., a 54-bed hospital in suburban Overland Park, Kan., bustling outpatient clinics throughout the metro area and outreach clinics in outlying communities. Children’s Mercy was founded in 1897 and lives today by its founding mission of never turning a child away. For more information, please visit www.childrensmercy.org.
About ForHealth Technologies Inc.
Founded in 1998, ForHealth Technologies, Inc., a leader in automation technology 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 robotic technology, IntelliFill i.v., automates the preparation of IV syringes, greatly enhancing both the safety of patients and the efficiency of hospital pharmacies. For more information, please visit www.fhtinc.com.
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