Technology Advancements at EMC Improve Patient Safety

When selecting a hospital for an inpatient stay, you want to be sure that you will receive safe patient care. One aspect of patient safety is receiving the correct medication as prescribed by your physician during your stay in the hospital.
The safe care of each patient is an ongoing process that is analyzed by the management team at Evergreen Medical Center (EMC) during the annual planning retreat to determine the focus and direction of the hospital for the upcoming year.

One of EMC’s strategies developed at the planning retreat for this year addresses the issue of medication errors to insure the safety of each patient. EMC has made an investment and implemented two state-of-the-art upgrades to our current system: an advanced automated medication management system, the Pyxis MedStation 3000, and also Medication Administration Verification, or Med-Verify. The new Pyxis system will enable nursing, pharmacy and physicians to work more efficiently and effectively as a collaborative team in their efforts to deliver safe, high-quality patient care. The new Medication Verification system takes patient safety to a higher level by providing a final check at administration via barcode identification.

“These new systems will do several things for our patients and staff,” states Randy Seale, RPh, Director of the Pharmacy at EMC. “First and foremost, it will reduce the chances of medication errors increasing patient safety. It will enhance workflow, providing more time for clinical patient care and will maximize security of our medications and protected patient health information.”

Improving patient safety is one of the most urgent issues facing healthcare today. By staying abreast of current trends in technology and the industry, EMC will continue to provide quality patient care in a safe and effective manner.

Administrator for EMC, Jim Peace, states, “It is exciting to see our long range plan for computer enhancement coming together. We began this journey over 8 years ago and the implementation of this new module brings us closer to meeting our goals". Evergreen Medical Center is one of the first hospitals in the area to implement such technology said Peace and patient safety is the primary objective for doing it.