Merwin  were led at their stand by their President, Gladys Mónica Depaolini, who presented printing solutions for the pharmaceutical industry such as the inc.jet model, which is small, light and simple, facilitating label printing for products with ink that cannot be altered and is guaranteed to last. Merwin also exhibited the Rapid X-1 which includes fast printing technology for labels on spools or pre-stamped white labels. Designed to fulfill all labeling needs, the X1 is equipped with a de-spooler and a re-spooler with a maximum length of 305mm. The Rapid X-1 is ideal for pre-finalized labels that can then be used in other marking systems. It is very useful for small and mid-sized print runs. 

Neopic Technologies offered practical demonstrations in partnership with Zebra of their self-identification solutions for large and small medication shipments. As Lionel Cymerman, Neopic's IT Director explained, the new TrazaMed system, integrated with ANMAT, includes RFID technology – radiofrequency identification – with different antenna-based reader models that make it possible to recognize data stored on medication containers. A more sophisticated system offered by the company enables clients to manage large volumes of medications, and involves their identification via a reader system that can recognize the data stored with each container on a chip rather than a label. 

Zebra Technologies, led by Yolanda Quintero, presented its identification bracelet printers: the HC100 Printer which comes in different sizes for different kinds of patient, from babies to adults and old people. It also presented pharmaceutical labeling solutions used to identify each patients' prescription. The labels can be printed at the pharmacy using a PC and a Zebra desktop printer or in the patient's room using a hand terminal and a Zebra portable printer with a wireless connection. 

Selis Soluciones announced that its identification bracelets have been adopted by the FLENI Neurological Institute. They take information directly from the institution's clinical information system for use with the patients. So any doctor or person at the institution can get information about the patient they are treating immediately and without errors. SELIS also provides printers of thermal bracelets and offers technical support throughout the implementation and set-up of the system, thus meeting the security regulations for patient identification.

With an investment of R$2.5 million, the system’s objectives are to increase patient safety, trace medications within the Hospital, improve nursing procedures, increase productivity and optimize physical space.

The project is divided into storage conveyers for supplies and medications: Vertical and horizontal automation, including pneumatic email-operated dispensaries, a central connection and pharmacies with satellite hospitalization units. The service also provides a new concept in the provision of injectable medications and clean room standards that meet all qualifications in the area, resulting in greater safety in care.      

 “This new model favors not just the logistics chain but also treatment. The nursing staff can spend more time caring for the patient as it has the most commonly used supplies and medications,  tailored for each sector, available in hospitalization units and will receive injectable medications in dose units, i.e. ready to be administered,” said the Samaratino Supply Manager Ana Paula Gomes de Melo.

According to her the automation has also benefited IT professionals who can focus on their clinical activities, ceasing to perform operational duties and interacting directly with multidisciplinary teams and patients. “Today every patient receives drug treatment information in an interactive manner and pharmacists can use tablets next to the bed to send the necessary directions,” she concluded.

By Mike Miliard, Managing Editor of Health Care IT News

 

The 2012 U.S. Laboratory Information System (LIS) Study is the latest in a series of studies evaluating  the HITECH Act's impact on EHR adoption, HIE growth and other health IT usage. The report polled 290 hospitals on the market opportunity, vendor mind share and vendor market share across the U.S.

Forty-seven percent of respondents said efficiency improvements were their primary reasons for investing in an LIS.