ICU Medical Receives Premier Inc. Contract for the New Diana™ Hazardous Drug Compounding System with Barcode Scanning

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Dec. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ICU Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: ICUI) today announced it has been awarded a six-year group purchasing contract from Premier Inc. for the Diana^TM hazardous drug compounding system, the world's first user-controlled, automated sterile compounding system for the accurate, safe, and efficient preparation of hazardous drugs. Effective in 2014, this is the first time the Diana system, introduced in the United States in 2012, has been on contract with a group purchasing organization. A new version of the Diana system that incorporates a barcode scanning system will be debuted at the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists (ASHP) midyear clinical meeting in Orlando, FL, December 8-12, 2013.

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The new Diana system will incorporate traceability features that automatically provide pharmacists with medication name, volume, time, date, and patient order number for each preparation, helping improve patient safety while supporting preparation quality assurance and pharmacy validation best practices. The system's barcode scanner references a library of over 6500 unique injectable drug names and concentrations to help minimize data entry errors. After a mix is complete, the system sends the medication name, volume, time, and date to a printer to create up to five labels containing preparation information to complement validation and quality assurance process, help prevent medication errors, and provide a record of past preparations.

"Premier has long recognized the importance of enabling hazardous drug safe handling processes for its members, and the addition of the Diana system to Premier contract is another example of putting safety first," explained Richard Costello, ICU Medical Inc. Senior Vice President of Sales. "With the Diana system, Premier member facilities now have access to the latest technology for the safe, sterile preparation of hazardous drugs."

Originally designed to keep clinicians safe from hazardous drug exposure during chemotherapy preparation, the microbiologically and mechanically closed Diana system also helps keep the drugs themselves safe from exposure to outside contaminants. Organizations such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP <797>) recommend the use of closed systems to help protect the healthcare worker from exposure to hazardous agents and to protect the sterility and integrity of drugs.

While the new Diana contract will include the cassettes and diluent sets required to operate the system, additional safe handling components that are part of the ICU Medical ChemoClave^® product line are available under a separate Premier contract.

"The Diana system was inspired by Dr. Diana Kostyra Lopez, the late wife of ICU Medical founder and Chairman Dr. George "Doc" Lopez, who lost a valiant fight with cancer in 2006," explained Mark Jorgensen, ICU Medical's General Manager of National Accounts. "During chemotherapy, Diana heard her nurses complain of a metallic taste in their mouths and discuss potential health hazards from exposure to chemotherapy drugs. She asked Doc to create a solution that would help keep clinicians safe from exposure, and the result is the ICU Medical line of needlefree oncology solutions, including the Diana system."

Contact: Tom McCall 
Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
949-366-4368
[email protected]

About ICU Medical Inc.: ICU Medical Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells innovative medical devices used in vascular therapy, oncology, and critical care applications. ICU Medical's products improve patient outcomes by helping prevent bloodstream infections and protecting healthcare workers from exposure to infectious diseases or hazardous drugs. The company's complete product line includes custom IV systems, closed delivery systems for hazardous drugs, needlefree IV connectors, catheters, and cardiac monitoring systems. ICU Medical is headquartered in San Clemente, California. More information about ICU Medical Inc. can be found at www.icumed.com.

About Premier, Inc., Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient Premier Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of more than 2,900 U.S. hospitals and nearly 100,000 other providers to transform healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and advisory and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Premier is passionate about transforming American healthcare. Please visit Premier's news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com; as well as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Foursquare, and Premier's blog for more information about the company.

SOURCE ICU Medical, Inc.