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Safety and Compliance Are Your Cabinets Equipped With the Right Drawers? ................................................................................................................................... 2Put an End to Mystery Medications: The Importance of Labeling Medications ............................................................................................... 3

Best PracticesBest Practices for Wasting Fentanyl Patches .................................................................................................................................................. 4

Product UpdateCloud Connect Provides Secure Network for Remote Omnicell Cabinets ...................................................................................................... 5

AnnouncementsOmnicell Pilots Veterans Outreach Program ................................................................................................................................................... 6Controlled Substance Management System Has New Functionality .............................................................................................................. 6Omnicell and Codonics Partner to Deliver Safer Anesthesia Medication Management .................................................................................. 7ADCs Play Important Role in Post-Acute Care ............................................................................................................................................... 7 New Customer Portal Is Underway! ................................................................................................................................................................ 7

Events Conferences, Omnicell Training, and Webinars .............................................................................................................................................. 8

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Information and News for Omnicell Customers Spring/Summer 2013

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Are Your Cabinets Equipped With the Right Drawers?

No one likes to talk about medication diversion, but with numerous stories in the media about such incidents resulting in tragic events, it can’t be ignored. If your Omnicell automated dispensing cabinets were installed a while ago, it may be time to revisit how they are configured—to ensure you are providing necessary safeguards.

A wide variety of drawer options are available, and Omnicell cabinets can easily be reconfigured to enhance security without changing the footprint. While open matrix drawers are available for low security items, we describe some options below for keeping high profile items more secure. Download our Drawer Options brochure for additional details.

FlexBin™ Single-Dose Drawer This drawer provides a high level of security, restricting access to the item and quantity chosen by the clinician. No other doses are available. There is no need to confirm the remaining quantity or conduct end-of-shift counts, which results in fewer discrepancies.

Locking Lid Drawer Locking bins, suitable for controlled substances, provide a high level of security by restricting access to one preselected medication at a time. An audible alarm will sound if a clinician attempts to access another compartment, and notification is recorded and sent to the pharmacy. The tamper-proof metal lids on each bin further ensure security.

Sensing Lid Drawer A more cost-effective option for controlling access to medications, this drawer has sensing bins with see-through lids. Special sensors on the bin lids detect bin entry and provide audible and visual feedback to clinicians attempting to open bins for items that have not been preselected. Any unauthorized entry attempts are recorded in the system, thus providing deterrence to inappropriate activity.

Other Cabinet Security Options

OmniDispenser™ Single-Dose Dispensing Module The OmniDispenser module stores medications in a separate, secured location in the cabinet and dispenses each dose individually, virtually eliminating the need to conduct countbacks and resolve discrepancies.

Touch&Go™ G4 Biometric ID System Fingerprint systems provide high security yet convenient access to your cabinets. The latest Touch & Go™ system (available on Omnicell G4 cabinets introduced in spring 2011) incorporates advanced biometric hardware and software. Users can access the cabinet via fingerprint scan only, which helps block access to unauthorized users.

Pandora® Analytics Pandora keeps tabs on all cabinet transactions, and equips pharmacy and nursing management with customizable dashboard reports and proactive alerts. Widget graphs provide at-a-glance insights and allow users to quickly click through to desired levels of detail. Patty Womack, Director of Pharmacy at Community Hospital of San Bernardino (Dignity Health), said, “With Pandora we are able to identify diverters much quicker, hopefully before it becomes an issue of patient safety.”

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Safety and ComplianceAddressing patient safety and regulatory requirements.

Newsletter – Spring/Summer 2013

Contact your Omnicell representative if you would like an evaluation of your current Omnicell cabinet configurations or want to learn more about Omnicell medication security features.

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Put an End to Mystery Medications

The Importance of Labeling Medications You’ve probably cringed at an unmarked syringe sitting out on a tray or wondered which patient an opened tube of bacitracin belongs to.

The issue of unlabeled medications has received greater scrutiny by the Joint Commission in recent years. National Patient Safety Goal 03.04.01 calls for labeling medications that are not immediately administered to patients.

Injectables are of particular concern: Harmful or fatal medication errors are three times more likely to occur via injection compared with other routes.1

Medication Label Printer One of the new functions introduced with Omnicell’s G4 platform in spring 2011 was a Medication Label Printer integrated within the automated dispensing cabinet (ADC). This function allows nurses to print patient-specific labels as they are issuing medications. It facilitates compliance with Joint Commission requirements, and eliminates unsafe workarounds and time spent on handwriting labels.

Pharmacy can configure the cabinets to have labels automatically print when high-risk and multi-use items are issued. Nurses also have the option of printing a label for particular items during medication issue.

Labels expand use of ADC, save pharmacy time Omnicell customers such as Hackensack University Medical Center and Spaulding Hospital Cambridge are now stocking nurse-prepared antibiotics in the ADCs rather than preparing them in the pharmacy and dispensing per individual patient order. Nurses can label IV admixtures after removing the components from the ADC.

This capability saves significant pharmacy time, reduces waste associated with changed medication orders, and speeds time to first dose—advantages that reduce costs. Time and motion studies conducted by Omnicell have shown that it costs 8 times more to dispense a first dose from the pharmacy versus through the ADC.2

Other items Omnicell customers are labeling via the printer include:

• Medications removed from their original packaging(e.g. syringes)

• Multi-use medications (e.g. topicals, inhalers, eye drops)

• Premixed IV drips (e.g. nitroglycerin or lidocaine)

“This gives us the confidence to store medications such as antibiotics in the cabinets because we know we can rely on the printer interface to produce the correct patient-specific labels each time.”

– Joseph Sacco, RPh, Director of Pharmacy Services, SpauldingHospital Cambridge

Medication Labeling in the Central Pharmacy To ensure all unit dose and injectable medications are scan-ready when leaving the pharmacy, Omnicell’s WorkflowRx™ inventory management software includes an integrated medication labeling system. The labels can be customized and print on various label styles such as a flag for bar code medication administration (BCMA) at the bedside.

Medication Labeling in the Operating Room To help reduce errors involving injectable and intravenous medications administered in the OR, Omnicell now offers the Codonics Safe Label System SLS 500i with the Omnicell Anesthesia Workstation™.

The Codonics system uses bar code technology to verify the correct items were removed from the Anesthesia Workstation, and it prints color-coded labels on demand.

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Newsletter – Spring/Summer 2013

1Proceedings of a summit on preventing patient harm and death from I.V. medication errors. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2008;65(24):2367-2379. 2Omnicell white paper based on five-hospital study, 2013.

Safety and ComplianceAddressing patient safety and regulatory requirements.

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Best Practices for Wasting Fentanyl Patches

Transdermal patches containing controlled substances such as fentanyl should be disposed of properly anytime they are removed from a patient.

Whether the patch was applied to the patient for the full duration or not, you want to ensure that any residual medication left on the patch will not be transferred to another person.

The Omnicell® automated dispensing cabinet can be used to both remind nurses of waste and other procedures for patches and to electronically document the waste.

To facilitate the process, Omnicell enabled customized waste reasons such as “Trace” to be set up in the OmniCenter® server as of software version 17.1.

Dispensing Alerts Dispensing alerts are a useful way to remind nurses about special procedures required for transdermal patches. For example, upon removing a patch from the cabinet, an alert can remind the nurse to check the patient for an existing patch before applying a new one. Alerts can also be used to provide specific waste instructions.

Two Approaches for Documenting Waste The Omnicell cabinet can be set up to record waste in two ways:

1) by number of hours the patch was in place, or

2) by indicating a zero waste amount.

For a step-by-step quick guide to these approaches, download this pdf handout:Documenting Waste of Controlled Substance Patches in the Omnicell Automated Dispensing Cabinet

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Newsletter – Spring/Summer 2013

Best PracticesTips and techniques to help you work smarter.

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Product UpdateFind out what’s new at Omnicell.

Cloud Connect Provides Secure Network for Remote Omnicell Cabinets

For those healthcare systems that operate facilities outside the hospital, Omnicell now offers a convenient new way to network your Omnicell systems across sites.

Previously, Omnicell cabinets residing outside the hospital wide area network (WAN) required modem connection. With Cloud Connect, Omnicell systems located outside of the WAN are managed through a central network using HTTPS Internet connection.

This network solution is ideal for integrated delivery networks (IDNs) that operate physician offices, long-term care facilities, and institutional pharmacies, including those that reside in different time zones.

Secure transactions are sent between the Omnicell OmniCenter® server and the individual Omnicell workstations—whether cabinets or open shelving stations.

• Secure HTTPS connection—no modems needed

• Enables improved service and support—Omnicell can troubleshoot systems remotely

• Easier upgrades—Omnicell systems can receive software updates remotely

• Available at no extra cost

Learn more about Cloud Connect.

Newsletter – Spring/Summer 2013

*Omnicell may not offer such products for commercial release.

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Omnicell Pilots Veterans Outreach Program

Unemployment among veterans is shocking, and many who once held high positions within the military are unable to find work as civilians. About 207,000 recent veterans were without work in March 2013 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Omnicell has taken a proactive role in reaching veterans by launching a pilot program in April called the Omnicell Veterans Outreach Program (OVOP). Through partnering with Hiring Our Heroes (HOH), a program founded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Omnicell is one of the many employers participating in hiring fairs targeted to veterans.

Since March 2011, more than 18,400 veterans and military spouses have found work through HOH. Omnicell will continue to support this important initiative and participate in HOH job fairs throughout 2013.

Newsletter – Spring/Summer 2013

AnnouncementsBrief news items to keep you informed.

Controlled Substance Management System Has New Functionality

The latest release of the Omnicell® Controlled Substance Management System (CSM) (17.5) now supports management of controlled substances on open shelving within secured vaults as well as in secured dispensing cabinets and refrigerators.

In addition to supporting inventory management for vault environments, CSM has a new purchasing platform to help automate your medication ordering workflow.

Instead of manually preparing vendor orders, you can use this electronic ordering system with medication distributors and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Controlled Substance Ordering System (CSOS).

• Optimizes inventory—orders based on par levels and reorder points

• Inventory received is automatically entered in the CSM system

• Orders can be scheduled to generate on specific days/times

• Agnostic system allows freedom to change medication distributors

Time savings: Methodist LeBonheur Germantown Hospital saved up to 83% of time spent preparing distributor orders and 90% of time spent preparing CSOS orders.

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ADCs Play Important Role in Post-Acute Care Increasingly, acute care hospitals are acquiring or partnering with post-acute care facilities. Using automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) in these environments supports a consistent standard of medication management. The common practice of dispensing medication from tackle boxes relies on manual documentation that is inefficient and error-prone, and makes accountability difficult to control. A study by

UCLA researchers showed that it took over 12 hours for patients admitted to a nursing home to receive first doses of medications.1

An ADC aids in regulatory compliance and security, and helps increase quality of care for residents by enabling faster administration of first doses, new medication orders, and emergency medications. For the long-term care pharmacy serving post-acute care sites, the ADC reduces stat deliveries and back-up pharmacy costs.

For information about implementing Omnicell® automated medication and supply systems in post-acute care, call 650-251-6078. 1 Ward K, et al. Addressing delays in medication administration for patients transferred from the hospital to the nursing home: a pilot quality improvement project. Am J Geriatr Pharmacother. 2008;6(4):205-211.

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Omnicell and Codonics Partner to Deliver Safer Anesthesia Medication Management Omnicell will resell the Codonics Safe Label System SLS 500i with Omnicell’s Anesthesia Workstation™ to provide bar code medication labeling.

Used together, the two technologies help reduce medication errors made during the selection, preparation, and administration of injectable and intravenous medications in the perioperative environment. The system increases pharmacy oversight and compliance.

Newsletter – Spring/Summer 2013

AnnouncementsBrief news items to keep you informed.

New Customer Portal Is Underway! Omnicell recently embarked on a full redesign of our customer portal website to improve the experience for our customers. The new customer portal—titled myOmnicell—will feature many new enhancements, including:

• The ability to track the status of your open service requests.

• The opportunity to collaborate and share best practices with your peers located around the country.

• A robust search functionality that will allow you to select only the Omnicell products you are most interested in.

We look forward to inviting you to the myOmnicell community. Stay tuned for further announcements.

8 Omnicell, Inc. • Mountain View, CA • Tel: 800.850.6664 or (+1)-650-251-6100 • www.omnicell.com

Events

ConferencesOmnicell participates in many conferences throughout the year. A few key meetings are listed below, and a full listing is provided here. We hope you can join us at an upcoming event!

Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management Conference and Exhibition July 29 – 30, 2013 San Diego, CA

HealthTrust University Conference and Vendor Fair August 20 – 22, 2013Nashville, TN

Institute of Healthcare Executives and Suppliers Fall Conference September 11 – 13, 2013Charlotte, NC

OR Manager Conference September 23 – 25, 2013National Harbor, MD

Cerner Health Conference October 7 – 10, 2013 Kansas City, MO

American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting October 12 – 16, 2013 San Francisco, CA

Omnicell Training Our Education and Training Services team offers a variety of practical, hands-on customer courses on site at our Mountain View, California headquarters. View our current calendar of scheduled training courses and registration information.

Classroom courses offered include:

• Pharmacy System Administrator Training

• Advanced System Administrator Training

• Biomedical Service Training

• G4 Biomedical Service Training

• WorkflowRx System Administrator Training

• Supply System Administrator Training

• OptiFlex System Administrator Training

New Subscription Training Program for System Administrators Our flexible subscription training model enables your staff to engage in training how and when they want it. Participants can take an unlimited number of instructor-led training sessions (both virtual and classroom) throughout the subscription period. The program is currently open for Omnicell Medication Automation and becomes available for CSM in August.

To inquire about the program please contact train@omnicell.com.

Webinars Omnicell recently hosted a webinar featuring best practices for narcotics handling in the perioperative environment from Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Click here to view the webinar.

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Newsletter – Spring/Summer 2013

EventsUpcoming conferences, training classes, and more.

Omnicell, the Omnicell design mark, OmniCenter, and Pandora are registered trademarks. Anywhere RN, Touch & Go, WorkflowRx, and OptiFlex are trademarks of Omnicell, Inc. in the United States and internationally. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. ©2013 All rights reserved.