Abbott MedNet(TM) Drug Library Software Sets New Industry Standard For Medication Management in Hospitals
08 Dicembre 2003 - 2:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
Abbott MedNet(TM) Drug Library Software Sets New Industry Standard
For Medication Management in Hospitals New Software First to Offer
'Best-Practice' Guideline Alerts for Both Hard and Soft Dose- and
Rate-Setting Limits; Expands Functionality of Industry-Leading
Medication Infusion System NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 8
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As part of Abbott Laboratories'
comprehensive initiative to reduce medication errors and enhance
patient safety in hospitals, the company today announced the launch
of its Abbott MedNet(TM) drug library software at the American
Society of Health- System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical
Meeting. MedNet provides clinical decision rules designed to
improve medication management at the hospital patient's bedside and
may offer additional protection against intravenous (I.V.)
medication errors. The software works in conjunction with the
company's Plum A+(R), an I.V. drug-delivery medication management
system, and allows hospitals to define dose limits for up to 1,200
medications. The software also alerts clinicians if they have
programmed a medication dose outside a set of predetermined limits
established by the hospital. Introduced in 2000, the Plum A+
infusion system is a modular and scalable infusion therapy system
for electronic control of I.V. medication administration. Plum
technology is currently used in more than 1,000 hospitals in the
United States. MedNet is the only drug library software available
that offers both "soft" and "hard" dose- and rate-setting limits
for both primary and secondary infusion. Soft limits, which are
currently the industry standard, allow clinicians to manually
override dose limits if they require delivery of a larger or
smaller dose than what is recommended by their hospital's best-
practice guidelines. As an added safety feature, the MedNet drug
library software also allows hospitals to set hard limits that
staff cannot manually override. "MedNet is a key component of our
initiative to help enhance medication management, as well as
patient and health care worker safety in hospitals," said John
Arnott, vice president, hospital business sector, Abbott
Laboratories. "This innovative software will give hospital
caregivers access to the hospital's drug reference library and
corresponding dose guidelines at the patient bedside. As one of the
leading suppliers of infusion therapy products to the U.S. hospital
market, we will continue to expand our medication management
systems, including new software products and drug- delivery
devices." With the MedNet drug library software, hospital
pharmacists, working in collaboration with clinicians, can develop
and program dose recommendations for up to 1,200 I.V. infusion
drugs and fluids into a database. Clinicians can also customize
clinical decision rules for up to 12 different clinical areas of
the hospital, such as the intensive care unit, emergency department
and pediatrics. The database is then loaded into the Plum A+
device, which is used to deliver medication at the patient bedside.
With the ability to capture and log all alarms and alerts generated
from hospital caregiver programming outside of the recommended soft
limits, MedNet will allow hospitals to identify trends in
compliance with the hospital's dosing and clinical rules, as well
as other quality assurance measures. If a hospital caregiver makes
a device programming error, the system will provide a warning,
signaling that the program is outside the recommended limits of the
hospital's best practices and protocols. If the entry is outside of
the hard limits, the system will prevent the hospital caregiver
from programming the device. A 1999 Institute of Medicine report,
"To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System," said medical
errors contribute to as many as 98,000 deaths in the United States
each year -- including 7,000 attributed to medication errors. The
report also noted that medication errors account for one out of
every 131 outpatients deaths, and one out of every 854 inpatient
deaths. "Our hospital is committed to continually enhancing the
quality of care we provide to our patients," said James C.
McAllister III, M.S., director of pharmacy, University of North
Carolina (UNC) Hospitals and Clinics. "MedNet drug library software
will begin to fulfill a need to provide improved checks at the
patient bedside to help ensure that medications are delivered in
accordance with the best practices established by our hospital."
This March, the company also completed its initiative to affix
unit-of-use bar codes to all of its hospital injectables and I.V.
solutions product lines -- one of the most comprehensive efforts in
the industry. In August 2003, Abbott Laboratories announced the
creation of a new company comprised of its core global hospital
products business. The new company will be a specialty
pharmaceutical and medication delivery company and its business
will include: medication delivery systems, such as medication
management systems (including electronic pumps and the new MedNet
drug library software); infusion therapy and critical care
products; and specialty injectable pharmaceuticals, including
generic acute-care injectables and intensive care pharmaceuticals.
Once the new company is created, which is expected to be in the
first half of 2004, it will have approximately 14,000 employees
worldwide, will be headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., north of
Chicago, and will be among the largest manufacturers of hospital
products in the United States. Abbott Laboratories is a global,
broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery,
development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals,
nutritionals, and medical products, including devices and
diagnostics. The company employs more than 70,000 people and
markets its products in more than 130 countries. In 2002, the
company's sales were $17.7 billion. Abbott 's news releases and
other information can be found on the company's Web site at
http://www.abbott.com/ . DATASOURCE: Abbott Laboratories CONTACT:
Media: Shannon Gore, +1-847-935-2528, or Tareta Adams,
+1-847-938-4310; Financial Community: John Thomas, +1-847-938-2655,
all of Abbott Laboratories Web site: http://www.abbott.com/ Company
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