Southeast Alabama Medical Center Completes Transition from Legacy AIMS to Plexus IS Anesthesia Information and Medication Management System

WESTWOOD, Mass., May 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Southeast Alabama Medical Center (SAMC) in Dothan, Alabama, went live on Plexus Information Systems' anesthesia information and medication management system in 35 anesthetizing locations, completely transitioning off a legacy AIMS. Southeast Alabama Medical Center has achieved the reputation of providing the best diagnostic, clinical, surgical and patient care services available in the region.

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Plexus IS' AIMS software, Anesthesia Touch™, offers the clinicians enhanced mobility by utilizing the iOS iPad technology in collaboration with the Windows Touchscreen platform, simplifying access and extending electronic recordkeeping to areas neglected under their prior AIMS product. Robust clinical integration was imperative to streamline the presurgical flow; on the morning of surgery a single click populates the anesthesia preop evaluation with information from the hospital's McKesson Paragon® health information system. After the anesthesia documentation is completed, paperless integration with the hospital's document imaging application, McKesson Patient Folder™, ensures every patient's record is properly filed and digitally accessible.

"We're fortunate at SAMC to have an administration with the foresight and vision to support the Department of Anesthesiology moving to computerized AIMS as far back as 2004. SAMC needed an AIMS that could integrate with the hospital-wide platform, Paragon. In the past, integration was simply difficult with our previous AIMS vendor, despite multiple efforts," said Jim York, M.D., Medical Director Surgical and Anesthesia Services at Southeast Alabama Medical Center.  "SAMC made a relatively late decision to move to Plexus IS and their team moved quite quickly to implement the AIMS while the hospital was converting house wide to Paragon. I compliment both the Plexus IS Team and SAMC IT Department for pulling off simultaneous implementation of Paragon and Plexus IS - quite complex and handled skillfully!"

As a modular add-on to Anesthesia Touch, Pharmacy Touch™ streamlines the tracking of controlled substances delivered by SAMC anesthesia providers by eliminating duplicate documentation, reducing drug errors, and enabling barcode syringe labeling. When anesthesia is ready to deliver the medication to the patient, a quick wave of the labeled syringe past the barcode scanner triggers documentation in Anesthesia Touch, including automated pharmacy charging.

"Plexus IS had an enormous task in building an application to suit our pharmacy's needs. The time-saving features built into Pharmacy Touch have far exceeded my expectations.  Pharmacy Touch is very user-friendly, which I can attribute to the unique logic used in the build," said Jada Branch RPh, OR Pharmacy Supervisor at Southeast Alabama Medical Center. "I appreciate the support of the SAMC administration for our OR Pharmacy by authorizing the purchase of an application that suits our specific needs."

"We are extremely appreciative to everyone involved in this multifaceted implementation that included bringing both the McKesson Paragon system and the Plexus IS anesthesia and drug management system live at the same time," said Rob Henry, Vice President of Client Services at Plexus Information Systems. "In addition to meeting the aggressive go-live date, the Plexus IS and SAMC engineering teams worked together to develop new integration points between the hospital's information system and the Plexus IS anesthesia system that previously weren't available with their legacy AIMS."

About Southeast Alabama Medical Center
Southeast Alabama Medical Center (SAMC) is a not-for-profit community health system dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of the residents of southeast Alabama, southwest Georgia and the Florida Panhandle. Led by volunteer boards made up of community leaders, SAMC operates as a 420-bed regional referral center, serving approximately 600,000 people throughout its neighboring communities and counties. SAMC offers a full range of healthcare services through its main campus in Dothan, including family-centered women's care, advanced cardiovascular and cancer treatments, state-of-the-art surgical procedures, and comprehensive pain management services. For more information, visit www.samc.org.

About Plexus Information Systems, Inc.
Plexus Information Systems (Plexus IS) is a leading provider of anesthesia information management and medication management systems. Anesthesia Touch™ is a full-featured AIMS for both Windows and iOS platforms that support concurrent charting and streaming physiologic data. It is easy to use, improves processes, enhances patient safety, and provides comprehensive anesthesia documentation. For more information, visit www.plexusis.com.

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SOURCE Plexus Information Systems