MTS Medication Technologies, Inc. (AMEX:MPP) (www.mts-mt.com), an international provider of medication compliance packaging systems, has begun testing its newest product, MedTimes, as part of a development agreement with one of its pharmacy customers and a nursing home in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The new product, MedTimes, is the second in a family of automated dispensing systems to be developed by the MTS Medication Management Solutions Group. MedTimes expands the pharmacy inventory control features of the previously released MedLocker™ system by including all prescriptions routinely ordered for nursing home residents, not just those required for first-time or emergency dosing. This allows for the complete management of medications throughout the nursing home.
MedTimes also provides nurses with a computerized medication administration record, helping to ensure the five “rights” of medication administration (right patient, right medication, right dose, right time and right route). Additional system benefits include improved patient safety, reduction in operating costs, efficient data capture of patient information and medication orders, and a significant reduction of waste from unused and destroyed medications.
“We believe MedTimes fundamentally changes how medications are dispensed and administered in skilled nursing facilities and can therefore dramatically improve the medication administration process,” says Todd E. Siegel, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We recognize there will be significant challenges related to legislative and regulatory acceptance, but we believe the benefits of the system are so compelling that public and private payers, state boards of pharmacy and departments of health will understand the importance of working with legislators to modify necessary laws and guidelines to pave the way for the product’s adoption.”
Most regulations provide for patient-specific dispensing, in which all nursing home residents receive their prescribed medications in individually labeled punch cards or other specialized packages that bear a prescription label. For example, if five residents are using the exact same medication, currently there will be five distinct prescriptions, one labeled for each resident’s use. The MedTimes model is based on drug-specific dispensing, with the MedTimes system tracking the medications needed to be administered to which patient and when. This means those same five patients can receive their medications from one inventory source (punch card) reducing inventory and drug waste from discontinued medications. The system presents a picture of the medication as well as the individual patient, so the drug can be accurately identified, verified and then given to the correct patient.
Siegel adds, “In the past, we have alluded to a second product in development behind MedLocker but were not ready to articulate our full product plan until the product was installed and tested. However, we are now on track to move MedTimes from an alpha to a beta project status, and anticipate a beta release of MedTimes at the American Society Consultant Pharmacists tradeshow Nov. 15, 2006 in Phoenix. We then expect to expand the beta to additional pharmacies and nursing homes in our fourth quarter ending March 31, 2007, and we are optimistic that the general release of this exciting new product as early as the first quarter of fiscal 2008.
“We believe MedTimes represents an unprecedented paradigm shift in our industry. Although there are regulatory and legislative barriers to overcome in the short term, we feel the quality enhancement and cost saving features are so compelling that we will ultimately be successful in gaining approval in a number of states.” Siegel explained that MTS has already identified several states in which MedTimes could be implemented and others in which the Company believes the system could be deployed in the near future.
“We believe the market potential, even at this early stage, is significant. We were recently instrumental in supporting legislative changes in California that will now allow for the use of the system. In addition to California, three additional target states — Florida, Texas and Maryland — represent almost 20 percent of the total skilled nursing beds in the United States — a market opportunity in excess of $150 million dollars. “We will work with individual state regulatory entities to seek to ensure that a level of understanding and support exists for MedTimes,” says Siegel. “We also intend to aggressively look to demonstrate the merits of the system and attempt to effect appropriate regulatory and legislative changes in key target states.”
The anticipated selling price of the MedTimes system is approximately $15,000 – $18,000 for a system that can manage 25 to 35 residents — a typical-sized wing in a nursing home. A pharmacy could fully automate a 100-bed nursing home’s medication administration process with a state-of-the-art electronic medication record and inventory control system for $70,000 to $80,000.
Siegel concludes, “This is the first automated dispensing and administration system we are aware of that actually eliminates significant costs as opposed to shifting costs from one party to another. Although there is still significant work to be done to ensure that MedTimes is successful, we expect this to be a significant market opportunity in the United States and in the United Kingdom. This certainly has given us a substantial incentive to pursue this initiative.”
About the Company
Founded in 1984, MTS Medication Technologies (www.mts-mt.com) is an international provider of medication compliance packaging systems designed to improve medication dispensing and administration. MTS manufactures automated packaging machines and related consumables for prescription medications and nutritional supplements. The Company serves approximately 8,000 pharmacies worldwide.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Additional written or oral forward-looking statements may be made by the Company from time to time, in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission or otherwise. Statements contained herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions described above. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, projections of revenue, income or losses, the value of contracts, capital expenditures, plans for future operations, the elimination of losses under certain programs, financing needs or plans, compliance with financial covenants in loan agreements, plans for sale of assets or businesses, plans relating to products or services of the Company, assessments of materiality, predictions of future events and the effects of pending and possible litigation, as well as assumptions relating to the foregoing. In addition, when used in this discussion, the words “anticipates”, “estimates”, “expects”, “intends”, “believes”, “plans” and variations thereof and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, all statements regarding the continuing of any trend or expected sales are forward-looking statements, as is any statement regarding the potential growth of our MedTimes, OnDemand and MedLocker products or statements concerning the market demand for such products. In particular, there can be no assurance that we will gain regulatory approval in many jurisdictions for our MedTimes product.
Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified based on current expectations. Consequently, future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein. Statements in the Press Release describe factors, among others, that could contribute to or cause such differences. Other factors that could contribute to or cause such differences include, but are not limited to, unanticipated increases in operating costs, changes in the United Kingdom healthcare regulatory system, labor disputes, customer rejection of any installed OnDemand machine, market acceptance of MedLocker, developments relating to customer initiatives, capital requirements, increases in borrowing costs, product demand, pricing, market acceptance, hurricanes, intellectual property rights and litigation, risks in product and technology development and other risk factors detailed in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements contained herein, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions of these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unexpected events.
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