CareFusion and Cerner Integrate Smart Pump Technologies to Help Improve Medication Safety and Efficiency

SAN DIEGO, April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CareFusion (NYSE: CFN) and Cerner (Nasdaq: CERN) today announced the live limited commercial release of a new infusion pump connectivity solution at Oklahoma Heart Hospital, one of the nation's first all-digital hospitals exclusively focused on heart care.

The new offering from CareFusion and Cerner helps hospitals improve patient safety and reduce medication administration errors by enabling nurses to remotely program intravenous (IV) medication orders from the hospital's Cerner Millennium® electronic health record (EHR) system to the CareFusion Alaris® System smart infusion pump through bar-code scanning.

This bi-directional capability between the CareFusion Alaris System and the Cerner CareAware iBus™ reduces the number of manual steps required to program an infusion order from as many as 16 key presses down to two or three confirmation steps. This helps to reduce the risk of harmful and costly IV medication programming errors at the patient's bedside.

"Besides being more efficient, we see a big gain in patient safety using this integrated solution," said Michelle Mullins, director of Clinical Systems for Oklahoma Heart Hospital. "We now have four validations of the infusion order – the physician, the pharmacist, the nurse and the ability to auto-program the infusion pump – and have removed the potential errors one can make when manually programming an infusion pump."

The Infusion Parameter Pre-population application from CareFusion is part of a new suite of bi-directional Alaris Connectivity Services developed by CareFusion in close collaboration with Cerner to help hospitals improve infusion safety, workflow and quality. The Alaris Connectivity Services suite also includes the ability to send data outbound to Cerner Millennium via Cerner's CareAware Infusion Management™ solution, equipping health care providers with near-real-time documentation and trending to aid in clinical decision-making.

"By bridging the gap between medical devices and HIT systems, we're able to help our customers drive workflow efficiencies and improve patient safety," said Tom Leonard, president of Medical Systems at CareFusion. "This interoperability between devices and information systems is among our customers' most critical priorities in the evolving health care landscape." 

In 2010, CareFusion and Cerner entered into an agreement to closely integrate their market-leading technologies in solutions to help hospitals and health care providers deliver better patient care through greater system interoperability. Since that time, the companies have connected CareFusion's Alaris infusion pumps, Pyxis® automated medication and supply dispensing systems and the CareFusion ventilation system with the CareAware iBus and Cerner Millennium, enabling hospitals greater device interoperability to enhance patient safety and clinical workflows.

"The CareAware Infusion Management solution is a great example of how the data from connected medical devices delivered via the CareAware iBus platform should be woven into the fabric of EHR workflows to create new clinician efficiencies," said Steve Kirsch, RPh, vice president of Cerner DeviceWorks.

About CareFusion
CareFusion (NYSE: CFN) is a global corporation serving the health care industry with products and services that help hospitals measurably improve the safety and quality of care. The company develops market-leading technologies including Alaris® infusion pumps, Pyxis® automated dispensing and patient identification systems, AVEA®, AirLife™ and LTV® series ventilation and respiratory products, ChloraPrep® skin prep products, MedMined® services for data mining surveillance, Nicolet™ neurological monitoring and diagnostic products, V. Mueller® surgical instruments, and an extensive line of products that support interventional medicine. CareFusion employs more than 14,000 people across its global operations. More information may be found at www.carefusion.com.

About Cerner
Cerner is contributing to the systemic change of health and care delivery. For more than 30 years Cerner has been executing its vision to make health care safer and more efficient. We started with the foundation of digitizing paper processes and now offer the most comprehensive array of information software, professional services, medical device integration, remote hosting and employer health and wellness services. Cerner systems are used by everyone from individual consumers, to single-doctor practices, hospitals, employers and entire countries. Taking what we've learned over more than three decades, Cerner is building on the knowledge that is in the system to support evidence-based clinical decisions, prevent medical errors and empower patients in their care.

Cerner® solutions are licensed by approximately 9,300 facilities around the world, including more than 2,650 hospitals; 3,750 physician practices; 40,000 physicians; 500 ambulatory facilities, such as laboratories, ambulatory centers, cardiac facilities, radiology clinics and surgery centers; 800 home health facilities; 40 employer sites and 1,600 retail pharmacies.

Certain trademarks, service marks and logos (collectively, the "Marks") set forth herein are owned by Cerner Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and certain other countries throughout the world. All other non-Cerner Marks are the property of their respective owners. Nasdaq: CERN. For more information about Cerner, please visit www.cerner.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

About Oklahoma Heart Hospital
Ranked in the top one percent of hospitals nationwide for patient satisfaction, Oklahoma Heart Hospital opened in August 2002 as the first all-digital hospital in America totally dedicated to the care of hearts. Cardiologists from Oklahoma Cardiovascular Associates partnered with Mercy Health Center to make the hospital a reality. In 2006, demand for cardiovascular services in the region prompted a $35 million expansion at the hospital.

In 2010, Oklahoma Heart Hospital South Campus opened its doors as an all-digital hospital specializing in the care of hearts. The South Campus partners with Oklahoma Heart Hospital, Mercy Health Center, and Norman Regional Health System to bring cardiovascular services to south Oklahoma City and eastern Oklahoma County. In 2011, Oklahoma Heart Hospital was named to Hospitals & Health Networks magazine's "Most Wired" list and became one of only 308 hospitals in the U.S. to achieve HIMSS Stage 6 designation.

Oklahoma Heart Hospital – Serving the State, Leading the Nation. www.okheart.com

SOURCE CareFusion; Cerner