University of Rochester Medical Center
The Challenge
URMC was heavily dependent on outsourcing IV preparations. When a series of events impacted the supply chain, the medical center opted to consider insourcing. However, they identified areas of weakness in their IV compounding processes, including wrong product selection, incorrect volume added, omitted ingredients, and missing checks.
The Solution
URMC's goal was to adopt a complete automation system for all types of preparation across patient populations. To get there, they adopted a number of Omnicell IV compounding solutions: non-hazardous IV compounding robots, hazardous IV compounding robots, and IV workflow automation.
These Omnicell solutions addressed URMC's primary focus on patient safety while also offering cost benefits — URMC could now reduce medication costs by producing non-commercially available, standardized doses on site.
The Impact
The IV compounding technology from Omnicell enabled URMC to enhance patient safety, reduce IV medication costs, improve efficiency, and increase worker safety. Since the start of the program, URMC has processed 455,000+ error-free doses, scanned 100% of ingredients, reduced touch contamination risk by more than 90%, and gravimetrically verified 100% of doses.
By implementing Omnicell IV robotics and workflow management, URMC was able to replace decision points in the compounding process that relied on human intervention with automated safety checks — ensuring a higher degree of accuracy, integrity, and sterility. Robotic compounding also protects the compounding area from contamination and protects IV room staff from exposure to hazardous drugs.
URMC's automation strategy focused on three key safety elements: barcode verification, digital image capture, and gravimetric checks. Their goal is to have 100% of hazardous doses prepared with all three safety mechanisms. "This strategy represents a significant step toward ensuring all patients receive medications produced using the safest sterile compounding processes available," explained David Webster, Director of Acute Care Pharmacy Operations.
Visit Omnicell.com/IV-Room to learn more today.