Small Health Care
Facility Touts Big Success with Advanced Clinical System
(12/10/2007)
United General Hospital (Sedro-Woolley, WA), a long-time MEDITECH Pharmacy customer, is
making great progress with its advanced clinical software projects as part of the
organization's latest patient safety initiative. Since the hospital is on the smaller side
(78 beds), the technology end of this hospital-wide initiative was driven mainly by the
pharmacy's leadership.
| "We are a small critical-access hospital with only
10 Pharmacy end users, yet our organization has made leaps and bounds with regard to safe
patient care delivery by implementing MEDITECH's Advanced Clinical functionality
throughout the hospital, as well as laying the groundwork for CPOE," states Chris
Johnston, director of pharmacy at United General Hospital. Led by Johnston, the pharmacy
team played a large role in mobilizing a big bang style implementation of MEDITECH's
Bedside Verification and the on-line medication record (eMAR), encompassing the use of
tablet devices, Blue Tooth enabled scanners, and a wireless environment. Adopting Bar Coding, Scanning, and Documentation Technologies The pharmacy team's role in the implementation included researching appropriate technologies which would best support the hospital's clinicians. "Numerous vendors were brought in, and based on our research, we selected a wireless scanner from Gryphon Datalogic used with Blue Tooth Technology to meet the hospital's scanning needs," says Johnston. "We also researched the various bar code symbologies, and worked for a couple of months to get bar codes on each and every stock item in the pharmacy." For those items which did not come bar coded from the manufacturer, the team searched for and utilized an inexpensive labeling product. |
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A main focus of the group's research was on providing
nurses with several options for completing their documentation. To help provide insight on
clinicians' workflows and needs, the hospital's emergency room and medical surgical
director, Tammy Gentry, participated in the project. "For those users who want to use
smaller portable devices than the traditional COWs (computers on wheels), we are fortunate
to now have a wireless network so that nurses can document at the bedside using
tablets," explains Gentry. "But for those who feel more comfortable using
stationary PCs, they can continue doing that as well." The hospital found dispensing
carts were also useful to their staff so nurses could go from one room to the next with
their tablets and the medication.
Spearheading a Big Bang
Implementation
After determining vendors and products necessary for the initiative to be a success,
United General made the decision to roll out Bedside Verification, scanning, and eMAR all
at once in the hospital's main units: Med Surg, ICU, and Behavioral Health. "We spent
six months implementing our equipment, training staff on the MEDITECH software, and
educating end users on daily workflow changes. We had a very strong core group of people
working together on this implementation," says Johnston.
As with any new implementation, a learning curve and some challenges arose. Johnston
explains, "We had some issues with hardware and with batteries, but the MEDITECH
software go-LIVE went smoothly for the most part. In retrospect, we put a lot of
responsibility on the nurses, and as a result of our experience we now incorporate more
detailed technology training in our orientation for new-hires." Additionally,
Johnston notes the formulary and dictionary building went particularly smoothly.
"It's a very simple process to build dictionaries and the formulary within the
MEDITECH system," he says.
Evaluating Patient Safety
Gains and Charting the Future
Since go-LIVE, United General has been able to show the hospital is truly preventing
medication errors, such as those related to missed or incorrect doses. "In the past,
we had about 13 to 14 medication issues per month," says Johnston. "Now, three
months after the implementation, we decreased that to about four errors per month. We
expect the errors to continue to decline."
Johnston and his team attribute a major part of their success to the integration MEDITECH
provides among applications. "Our pharmacy is so interconnected with the various
disciplines within the hospital," explains Johnston. "With the integration
between Bedside Verification, Pharmacy, and Order Entry, our department can better
troubleshoot issues that are occurring anywhere in the hospital and help to ensure safe
patient care on a daily basis."
What's coming next for United General? The hospital has its sights set on implementing
other fully integrated MEDITECH products in the near future, including the Emergency
Department Management functionality, as well as CPOE, which is slated for August, 2009.
"MEDITECH has and will continue to benefit United General Hospital in our patient
safety quest, as we look ahead to the exciting opportunities we have coming up in the next
year," Johnston concludes.
MEDITECH
Medical Information Technology, Inc.
MEDITECH Circle
Westwood, MA 02090
781-821-3000
www.meditech.com