Summa Health
The Challenge
For years, Summa's three hospitals managed medications with automated dispensing cabinets and a decentralized distribution model. While the Akron City campus was aided by the use of a central pharmacy carousel, the other two campuses stored and picked medications manually — a labor-intensive and error-prone process. Seeking to redeploy staff to clinical tasks, pharmacy leaders formulated a vision to automate cart filling operations across all three hospitals.
Further, because the facilities are within a 15-mile radius, the pharmacy leaders envisioned centralizing automated medication filling in the Barberton campus and using health system couriers to distribute medications to other sites.
The Solution
Summa became an Omnicell development partner for the new XR2 Automated Central Pharmacy System. The XR2 system automates critical workflows to increase medication safety, improve efficiency, and maximize inventory control. The XR2 system provides 100% barcoding, eliminating potential human error; supports a hybrid distribution model including cartfill, cabinet filling, and first dose dispensing; and uses advanced algorithms to manage inventory and reduce waste.
The Impact
Among Summa's objectives for the XR2 system was to automate central pharmacy cart fill and first dose operations at the Barberton campus. Daily patient-specific picks average around 1,200, with each order sealed in individual, clear, barcode-labeled bags using XR2's unique Auto Packager system.
Prior to the XR2 system, dispensing errors comprised 13.5% of all reported errors at the Barberton campus. Following XR2 implementation, the rate for all automated and non-automated picking errors fell to just 1.2%, with many months containing zero reported errors. "With the XR2 system, we saw an immediate reduction in documented cart fill mispicks. It's been a significant safety win," said Brandon Singer, Barberton's Pharmacy Supervisor.
Summa also tested the XR2 system for daily filling of Barberton's unit-based cabinets, and sought and received permission from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy for an hourly 10% spot check in lieu of a 100% pharmacist check for cart fill and first doses. "The end game, of course, is to leverage the XR2 system to enable pharmacists and technicians to practice at the top of their licenses," said John Feucht, Vice President of Pharmacy Services. "Automating the distributive processes enhances patient safety, improves efficiency, and creates inventory visibility for better management."
Visit Omnicell.com/XR2 to learn more today.