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Texas Regional Medical Center at Sunnyvale Boosts Patient Safety with New Pharmacy Labeling Solution, Part of the Access Intelligent Forms Suite

10/14/2011 10:35:34 AM

Top Texas hospital enhances medication barcoding initiative and speeds patient registration with electronic forms generated on demand and automatically indexed in Siemens EDM.

TRMC-Sunnyvale’s pharmacy system produced medication labels for nursing units to use with the hospital’s eMAR (electronic medication administration record) application, but the barcodes were small and positioned awkwardly on the bottom of the labels. This meant that if a label was not placed correctly or the edge was crumpled, the barcode was not recognized — a challenge that discouraged the nursing staff from adopting this process.

To solve the problem, TRMC Pharmacy Director Greg Bedenkop turned to the world’s leading electronic forms on demand solution, Access Intelligent Forms Suite (IFS). Once TRMC sent over the required technical details this summer, the Access team quickly increased the size of the barcode and repositioned it in the center of the label. IFS intelligently maps unique patient identifiers onto each label, ensuring positive patient ID.

“With Access’s pharmacy labeling solution, the barcoded labels are easy to scan, readable, and nurses don’t waste time rescanning or overriding like they did before,” Bedenkop said. “It’s a crucial part of our patient safety and bedside scanning initiative.”

Kristi Box, director of clinical informatics at TRMC-Sunnyvale, adds, “Access’s medication labeling system has greatly increased nurses’ participation in this important safety check. It makes their jobs easier and our patients safer.”

Another Access solution has eliminated the costs and delays of preprinted forms in the admissions department. There, the registrar sets up the patient’s record and prints a customized packet from Access Intelligent Forms Suite. At the same time, a face sheet prints in the relevant clinical department, enabling nurses to proactively prepare for their patient’s arrival.

The Access system also pulls patient information from the Siemens record onto the forms, eliminating the need for the patient to enter redundant demographics. Simultaneously, barcodes are applied that uniquely identify the forms with the patient’s account number and form ID. The patient then completes the forms via an LCD pad using Access e-Signature.

This technology applies a secure, unalterable electronic signature to each form with a time-and-date stamp, and also captures biometrics. Information is easily retrieved during e-Discovery or an audit, proving that the patient gave authorization at the point of admission.

“With Access’s electronic forms on demand and e-Signature products, we’ve minimized paper costs and reduced the time it takes to get a patient from registration to care delivery,” Box said. “As most patients decline taking a copy of their consent to treat with them, we’ve created a paperless solution.”

Completed forms are ported directly into the correct patient record through integration between the Access system and TRMC-Sunnyvale’s Siemens EDM application.

“Access Intelligent Forms Suite is a great complement to our Siemens EDM system,” Box said. “It sends forms into the patient’s EHR in record time, without our staff wasting time on manual indexing.”

About TRMC at Sunnyvale
Texas Regional Medical Center at Sunnyvale is a new kind of hospital, providing an extraordinary level of personal attention to its patients and an extensive array of medical services and technology that rivals any other facility in the area.

About Access
Access is the world’s leading electronic forms (e-forms) management, automation and workflow software provider. Our solutions transform any paper-intensive forms process into a paperless, collaborative workflow. Hundreds of hospitals worldwide are using Access solutions to improve patient care and safety, cut costs and enhance electronic health records (EHR), patient safety and downtime planning initiatives. Learn more at http://www.accessefm.com.

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EMR patient safety EHR Meaningful Use electronic medication administration record Siemens EDM electronic forms software electronic signature barcoding eMAR medication labeling