Ninewells Hospitals produces accurate labels for aseptically dispensed medicines with help from Episys

Ninewells Hospitals has implemented the Ultimate Platinum labelling system from Episys, the global information technology solutions and services company, in order to produce accurate labels for aseptically dispensed medicines, reflecting the needs of users, in a controlled environment with not only a low risk of error, but the ability to produce them quickly.

 
Ultimate Platinum enables the hospital to design labels matching its exact requirements that can be printed whenever they need and with the desired quantity. The solution also includes Approvals, a feature that provides a structured electronic methodology for approving label designs, database records and worksheets. The Approvals Module tracks and records all the changes which are made to ensure only approved labels can be printed. The Worksheet Modules allows Ninewells to produce worksheets and labels together as part of the same print request. In addition Ninewells Hospital is also using the Worksheet Module to prepare medicines for several patients on the same worksheet. By using the Worksheet Module the risk of inconsistencies between worksheets and labels is reduced and overall this is a more efficient way of working.
 
David Coulson, Principal Pharmacist, Aseptic Dispensary at Ninewells Hospital, comments: "Previously when it came to labelling aseptically dispensed medicines and issuing them to nursing colleagues for administration to patients, we had a limited format and couldn't edit our labels to display the critical information in a format that matched the nursing medicine administration process. Ultimate Platinum now gives us the ability to edit the full content on the label design before printing, and anything that needs to be added or removed from the label can be easily achieved before the print run is conducted."
 
Ninewells is also benefiting from the extensive security and audit trail features encompassed within Ultimate Platinum, which meet the stringent needs of the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 21CFR Part 11 regulations.
 
Derek Buchanan, Chief Executive Officer at Episys, adds: "Ninewells has been an Episys customer for approximately two years, and particularly liked the Ultimate Platinum system and recognised the positive effect it could have on its business. Going forward, the hospital is also now contemplating implementing a mobile printer on the wards, which would further speed up drug dispensing and consequently, beds will also be freed up sooner and patients can leave more quickly as they would no longer have to wait for the pharmacy to dispense the drugs."