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Medical University of South Carolina Advances Training, Safety and Service With McKesson Technology; Horizon Clinicals Creates Electronic Health Record Environment for Medical Students

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 November 2005, 09:01 CST

To advance patient safety and teach students using the latest digital technology across the entire continuum of care, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has launched a $19.7 million IT initiative to deploy McKesson's Horizon Clinicals(R) suite of healthcare solutions. These applications will enable more than 500 attending physicians, as well as nurses, pharmacists and other caregivers -- along with 600 medical students and 500 resident physicians in graduate medical education -- to complete patient charts at the point of care, track key medical procedures and safeguard medication administration in an electronic health record-based environment.

After an extensive evaluation, MUSC selected McKesson (NYSE:MCK) to help drive the transformation of traditional paper-based processes and provide caregivers with the state-of-the-art health and IT tools required to deliver safe, high-quality care. Key factors in the selection process included McKesson's integrated technology platform, its success at other academic medical centers, and MUSC's experience in working with McKesson on pharmacy automation and pharmaceutical supply management. The hospital relies on McKesson and its technology to stock, dispense and manage medications for its 20,000 annual inpatient admissions and 300,000 yearly outpatient visits.

"Our goal at MUSC is to build the highest quality higher-education environment to help retain and recruit the best talent," said Raymond Greenberg, president at MUSC. "Our institution offers all of the clinical health disciplines. In our evaluation, we were seeking a vendor partner that could help us completely retool our clinical infrastructure, enabling us to establish the foundation for electronic health records. After a thorough evaluation, McKesson's leading clinical and information management solutions and strong corporate reputation met the criteria we were seeking."

New technology solutions include handheld, bar-code scanning devices to prompt nurses to check for the five rights of medication safety -- right patient, right drug, right dose, right time and right route. Caregivers will be able to chart care at the bedside, allowing them to spend more time with patients while enhancing the coordination among team members. Web portal technology will enable physicians to have secure, Internet access to patient information, such as test results and vital signs, enabling quicker, more informed decisions regardless of whether the physician is at the hospital, office, home or another location.

"MUSC is focused on providing our healthcare staff and medical students with the latest, most robust solutions for delivering service excellence," said Frank Clark, MUSC chief information officer. "The McKesson team has an in-depth understanding of our strategic objectives, a broad range of solutions and service capabilities, and significant experience implementing technologies at other leading medical centers. That collective expertise, along with their strength and stability, gives us a solid partner to help fulfill our current requirements while training the healthcare providers of tomorrow."

Plans also call for the implementation of McKesson's Horizon Expert Orders(TM) solution for clinical decision support and physician order entry. MUSC medical staff selected the solution based on its ease of use, performance and broad adoption by physicians and other clinicians at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C.

"We wanted a proven, knowledge-based system that works the way physicians think and work, and Horizon Expert Orders clearly addresses our needs," said John Heffner, M.D., chief medical officer at MUSC. "As part of a complete clinical initiative, it's imperative that we provide intuitive solutions for recording, retrieving, managing and sharing patient information. New technologies give us a tremendous opportunity to maximize provider performance, offer top-notch student training and ensure that patients receive the most effective levels of care."

The clinical deployments reflect a broad, ongoing relationship between McKesson and MUSC, which is also automating administrative and supply-chain processes using McKesson technology.

"We are very pleased to expand our relationship with MUSC as it automates healthcare processes and equips clinicians with the latest technology to enhance care delivery," said Pamela Pure, president of McKesson Provider Technologies. "McKesson is uniquely positioned to provide not only innovative, practical software solutions, but the services expertise, automation and distribution services required to address the full range of healthcare needs."

About Medical University of South Carolina

Medical University of South Carolina has served the citizens of South Carolina since 1824. It has expanded from a small private college for the training of physicians to a state university with a medical center and six colleges (Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Graduate Studies, Dental Medicine and Health Professions) for the education of a broad range of health professionals, biomedical scientists and other health-related personnel. For more information, visit www.musc.edu.

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) is a Fortune 15 healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes, and improving the quality and safety of patient care. Over the course of its 172-year history, McKesson has grown by providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians, homecare, and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit www.mckesson.com.

Source: Business Wire

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