Science & Technology
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
Tue, May 25, 2010 All Children's Hospital Adopts Mediware's BloodSafe(TM) Products to Extend Transfusion Safety to the Patient Bedside
LENEXA, KS--(Marketwire - May 25, 2010) - [ Mediware Information Systems, Inc ]. (
"Our hospital has sought out tools that allow us to apply technology to processes. The BloodSafe products can help us improve the efficiency of care, reduce risk and support better outcomes for the kids in our care," said Cal Popovich, All Children's chief information officer. "Our goal is to automate in areas that make sense, and in a way that is economically feasible for the hospital. A key advantage for us is that all Mediware's handheld applications run on the same device as the other mobile nursing applications we plan to roll out. This will save us a lot of money and reduce the number of tools each nurse needs to manage."
"Using BloodSafe Tx provides us a tremendous advantage in blood safety," said Pat Hughes, who is All Children's acting chief nursing officer as well as the director of accreditation and licensure. "A core focus for our staff has always been accurate patient identification, ensuring we match the right activity to the right patent. Using tools such as BloodSafe Tx will make us more efficient, speed up our identification and ensure we get the right blood to the right patient. It will also enable us to efficiently capture information at the bedside that can be shared with other information systems or the EMR."
"Our experience with handhelds at the bedside started with LacTrack, a product that helps us track mother's milk, ensuring infants get the right milk, prepared the right way," said Ms. Hughes. "The LacTrack rollout was very successful, earning us recognition for process improvement and safety as well as building confidence in the use of handheld applications. We look forward to the additional tools we will have access to with BloodSafe Tx."
The deployment of the BloodSafe Tx product is part of All Children's strategic plan to apply technology to improve process oriented procedures in the patient care. This includes a broad strategy for using handheld devices to help nurses reduce the risk of error at the bedside. In addition to BloodSafe Tx, in 2009 All Children's licensed from Mediware the LacTrack™ software to support mother's milk administration and tracking processes. All Children's is also in the process of implementing Cerner's medication administration software.
BloodSafe Tx is an extension of Mediware's BloodSafe system, which All Children's implemented in 2009, that includes remote release blood refrigerators that securely store blood in high use areas of the hospital. BloodSafe refrigerators utilize an intelligent interface with Mediware's HCLL Transfusion software to electronically match and dispense the right blood for patients.
"It's critical that we monitor blood and transfusions at every step of the process," said Dee McMichael, blood bank supervisor. "The BloodSafe refrigerators have been very effective in improving the productivity of our lab staff as well as improving the safe accessibility of blood. The addition of BloodSafe Tx takes the safety controls one step further, by helping to ensure the right blood gets to the right patient. This includes real-time notifications in the blood bank whenever there is a transfusion reaction so we can immediately step into action. Plus, the integration with our HCLL Transfusion system allows us to capture blood transfusion information at the point of care."
BloodSafe Tx, BloodSafe intelligent refrigerators and the HCLL software system all work together to provide a ClosedLoop® system for patient safety. Using BloodSafe products, including the refrigerators and BloodSafe Tx handhelds, will enable the All Children's blood bank to extend its rigorous controls beyond the four walls of the lab to monitor blood safety all the way to the patient.
The BloodSafe Tx product line is viewed by customers as an effective tool for nurses to help ensure the right blood is administered to the right patients. "Ultimately, it comes down to using technology to improve processes that affect patient safety," concluded Mr. Popovich. "The BloodSafe Tx products will help us continue to improve process controls throughout the hospital which we expect to increase staff efficiency and patient safety."
[ About All Children's Hospital ]
Children are the sole focus of All Children's Hospital and its new, million-square-foot St. Petersburg, FL campus devoted to pediatric specialty care. The ten-story All Children's Hospital and its adjacent Outpatient Care Center (dedicated in January 2010) replace an existing 42-year old facility just two blocks away.
All Children's Hospital is the only hospital on Florida's West Coast totally devoted to Children's Care -- a leader in pediatric treatment, education, research and advocacy. As a regional referral center for children with some of the most challenging medical problems, All Children's draws patients from throughout Florida, all 50 states and 36 foreign countries. The mission of this private, not-for-profit hospital is rooted in its beginnings in 1926 as Florida's first crippled children's hospital for polio victims. All Children's understands that it's not enough to treat disease -- that true progress comes from teaching and research to cure disease. All Children's shares its pediatric expertise through research & education affiliations with the University of South Florida (USF Health) as well as Moffitt Cancer Center, an NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
[ About Mediware ]
Mediware delivers interoperable, best-of-breed software systems that integrate with electronic medical records to improve efficiencies and address safety concerns enabling healthcare organizations to improve care processes while decreasing costs. Core Mediware solutions include blood management technologies for hospitals and blood centers; medication management solutions for hospitals, behavioral health facilities, infusion and specialty pharmacy providers; and business intelligence-based performance management solutions for clinical, regulatory and financial aspects of the broader healthcare market. For more information about Mediware products and services, visit our Web site at [ www.mediware.com ]. LacTrack® is a trademark of Neoteric Corporation.
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as the same may be amended from time to time (the "Act") and in releases made by the SEC from time to time. Such forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2009, which may cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update its forward-looking statements.
