McKesson cuts medical errors
CRANBERRY TWP — Dave Knudsen, production manager
of McKesson Automation, is proud his company makes products that can help save lives.McKesson engineers and manufactures pharmacy automation equipment for hospitals.One of its main products is the Robot RX, which is an automatic picking device used in hospitals to select drugs according to what's been prescribed for each patient.When a patient is admitted into a hospital with McKesson's system, he is assigned a bar code on his wristband. That bar code will then match up with every package of drugs that needs to be administered to that patient.The Robot RX divides drugs into either individual trays or envelopes with the patient's name and bar code, and the package goes to nurse's station, ready to be distributed to the correct patient.Knudsen said the machine speeds up the process by essentially doing the work of five to seven pharmacy technicians. The products are placed in mid- to large-sized hospitals.He said the point is not to displace people but to take away the "labor intensive" part of pharmacists' jobs so they can work more with the nurses and others to improve the service to the patient."We're eliminating medication errors on every transaction using the bar code scan,"Knudsen said. "Eliminating any medical errors is obviously beneficial to the hospital."One companion product found at the nurse's station is a special cabinet for drugs prescribed if a patient comes in through the emergency department or if a doctor prescribes more drugs after a patient is admitted. To access the drawers, the nurses must enter a pin number.For the narcotics drawer, nurses must enter two pin numbers for added security.The cabinets also are designed to increase space. Each drawer is a special size designed for IV bags or larger products as well as the bags or envelopes with the drugs.One of the latest products is a portable work station, which is a computer-based nurse cart. Instead of writing the patient's information and updates on a chart outside of their rooms, the nurses can now enter the information into a computer which travels with them. Knudsensaid it saves the nurses the trouble of going back and forth from the patient's room to the nurse's station after every checkup.A hand-held scanner is connected to the work station. Nurses can scan the drug's and patient's bar code, and the computer will tell them if it's the right drug, the right dose, the right time of day to administer the drug, whether the drug is oral or an IV and, obviously, the right person the drug goes to.If all five components are met, the computer will give the nurse an OK. If not, it will give the nurse a stop signal."This is latest and greatest stuff," Knudsensaid.The work station also has a slot on the side for a thermometer, and the system tracks the quantity of drugs and automatically tells the supply room when to order more.The Fortune 18 company operates out of one corporate office at its Cranberry Woods site but also has other locations in southwestern Pennsylvania.In addition to Cranberry Woods, where accounting, finance, senior staff, marketing, sales, field service and human resources takes place, there is a Thorn Hill site where software development, engineering and manufacturing takes place in 125,000 feet of space.Some of the engineering takes place outside the building, but the final 50 to 75 percent of all manufacturing happens at Thorn Hill, the final integration facility.The painting, preliminary electrical work and other basics are done at other suppliers.The products are shipped all over the United States, Europe, Africa and South America.The company used to be Automated Health Care, which originated with students from Carnegie Mellon University. They built the first robot in their garage and felt there was a need for a full-scale company.Knudsensaid the area has been good to the company with reliable vendors who buy McKesson's products. Butler Memorial Hospital uses some of McKesson's products.In the future, Knudsen said the company is looking to the next generation of products, always trying to figure out how to design new products and update current ones to reduce the potential for medical errors.The company also is consistently working to make hospital staffs more productive and increase the automative presence in the hospital"It's a very enjoyable position because we're fortunate in the fact we're not just making widgets," he said. "The products we're making here have been shown to lower hospital errors. It's very exciting to be a part of making hospital stays safer."
