B. Braun Customers Gain Premier Access to Zynx Health Device Network's Evidence-based, Customizable Drug Library Program

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- B. Braun Medical Inc. (B. Braun) "smart" pumps (www.smartpumps.bbraunusa.com/news) will become even smarter when customers gain premier access to customized, evidence-based drug libraries provided by the Zynx Health Device Network's Prime-A-Pump®, a web-based, customizable program for creating and updating drug libraries.

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The Zynx Health Device Network, a Hearst Business Media company and an affiliate of First DataBank, and B. Braun announced today that they will collaborate with their joint customers to implement the program on B. Braun smart pumps.  

Prime-A-Pump provides a critical starting point for organizations that are grappling with how to set up clinically meaningful drug libraries and then keep them current with ongoing changes to drug information. Evidence-based and experience-based clinical decision support is clearly provided within the tool. It is designed to strike the appropriate balance between providing guidance for improving patient safety with important dosing alerts and avoiding so many alerts that they interfere with the clinical workflow and lead some clinicians to develop "work arounds" for the pumps' safety features.

Prime-A-Pump's easy-to-use, collaborative tool enables organizations to review the clinical evidence, customize their drug library recommendations at the local level, have virtual conversations with colleagues, vote on recommendations, and archive an unlimited number of versions within their own secured environment.

The software can be accessed 24/7 by the multidisciplinary healthcare facility teams charged with overseeing the drug libraries incorporated into "smart" infusion pumps. The web-based system eliminates the need to schedule multiple in-person meetings or pay a consultant to assist in the creation or updating of the drug libraries. To access information, clinicians simply log on to research the appropriate limits, terminology and standard concentrations, which are based on clinical evidence.

For healthcare facilities with existing drug libraries programmed into infusion pumps, Prime-A-Pump will mean quick, easy updates based on national research. For healthcare facilities adding infusion pumps or looking to create drug libraries for them, the new program will provide them with a strong starting point.

"We are very excited about this collaboration with B. Braun," says Nancy Greengold, MD, President of the Zynx Health Device Network. "Working together, we'll help healthcare organizations develop comprehensive drug libraries that optimize patient safety at the point of medication administration."

"Prime-A-Pump will provide B. Braun customers with a fast, efficient and cost-effective way to create and update evidence-based drug libraries that are critical to reducing medication errors," said Gale White, Vice President of Infusion Systems Marketing for B. Braun Medical Inc. "This eliminates the need and the expense of accessing consultants for early-stage setup information and routine updates. With the Zynx tool, hospitals of all sizes can quickly establish an evidence-based drug library and those with existing drug libraries can revise them with information culled from national research." 

White said B. Braun's staff of registered pharmacists and clinicians will continue to work with hospital staffs on more strategic aspects of developing and implementing drug libraries, including working with pharmacists, nurses and physicians to determine the most appropriate configurations and workflows to enhance compliance with medication safety features of the pumps thus promoting a decrease in pump related medication errors. "The new decision-support solution was developed by clinicians for clinicians, with detailed attention to real-world dosing challenges and the complexities of patient care," says Greengold.  

About Zynx Health

Zynx Health, a subsidiary of Hearst Corporation, is the market leader in providing evidence-based and experience-based clinical decision support solutions proven to measurably improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care.  Thousands of hospital organizations and providers trust Zynx Health clinical evidence, order sets, plans of care, clinical decision support rules, quality forecasters, and practice guidelines to drive clinical improvements at the point of care and deploy the clinical decision support solutions required to demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs.  Collectively clients have customized and deployed more than 100,000 order sets and plans of care within Zynx Health's online solutions.  To learn more, visit www.primeapump.com or www.zynxhealth.com.

About First DataBank

First DataBank, a subsidiary of Hearst Corporation, drives patient safety and healthcare quality by providing drug databases that are used within information systems that touch every aspect of healthcare.  For more than 30 years, First DataBank has partnered with system developers to integrate and optimize its drug information to improve user workflow and enhance clinical decision making by those entrusted with treating patients at the point-of-need. For more information about First DataBank, call 800-633-3453 or visit www.firstdatabank.com.

About B. Braun

B. Braun is a leading manufacturer of infusion therapy and pain management products with an environmentally-friendly focus. Guided by the company's "Sharing Expertise®" philosophy, B. Braun addresses the critical issues of infection prevention, medication safety and environmental responsibility by promoting best practices that help clinicians reduce medication errors, prevent healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) and achieve sustainability objectives.

Consistently recognized by Frost & Sullivan and KLAS for its medical technology and support services, B. Braun employees share their knowledge with colleagues and customers to improve working processes in hospitals and medical practices and to enhance the safety of patients and healthcare professionals. For more information, call 800-227-2862, email us at [email protected] or visit B. Braun at www.bbraunusa.com.

SOURCE B. Braun Medical Inc.