MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnicell, Inc., (NASDAQ: OMCL), today announced the availability of its expanded Unity enterprise platform, which will now include a central pharmacy inventory management system as part of the Company's 18.5 software release. The Unity enterprise platform is the premier medication and supply automation solution for use in a wide range of patient care venues throughout health care systems. Separately, with this software release, Omnicell announced the availability of advanced interoperability between its medication dispensing systems and the Cerner Millennium^® electronic health record (EHR) via Cerner's CareAware iBus^®.

The introduction of Omnicell's Central Pharmacy inventory management software marks the first step in migrating Omnicell central pharmacy systems onto the Unity platform.  The new Central Pharmacy solution will share the same database on the OmniCenter^® server as other Unity platform products, which include the Omnicell^® fourth generation (G4) medication and supply dispensing cabinets, controlled substance management system, anesthesia workstation, and mobile medication workstations. Omnicell is the first vendor to offer a platform that integrates data from medication and supply automation as well as central pharmacy into a single, shared database.  Integrating multiple solutions across the health care enterprise via one shared system can save clinician time and help reduce errors by eliminating redundant data entry.

Now, pharmacists, materials management and nurse managers will have access to powerful analytics tools that integrate with the Unity platform to monitor medication and supply inventory and ensure security is maintained for controlled substances.  

"Omnicell's Central Pharmacy automation on the Unity platform will provide perpetual inventory management on a single, shared database with their medication dispensing and supply automation," said Donna Toney, director of pharmacy, Ty Cobb Regional Medical Center.  "With real-time communication among all products on the Unity platform technology, this Central Pharmacy release provides us with the confidence to run a leaner inventory based on actual demand and enables significant efficiencies in the replenishment and automated procurement process."

In addition to enhanced efficiencies from a single database, health care providers expect technology integration among their vendors to help ensure greater patient safety, and the Omnicell 18.5 software release answers this need by allowing third-party EHR interoperability with Omnicell's medication dispensing system. This software release enables remote automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) functionality within the Cerner EHR, allowing clinicians to issue, view availability, and waste medications directly from within the Cerner system. Omnicell is working on similar interoperability with other partner vendors to ensure its pharmacy automation systems work seamlessly with EHRs, helping to expand the benefits of both technologies.

With the current economic realities of health care delivery, hospitals continue to consolidate with other health care facilities and thus require scalable technology solutions that meet the needs of those involved with clinical care. All Omnicell solutions on the Unity enterprise platform offer a consistent and secure operating system experience, standardized on Microsoft Windows 7 connected to an enterprise ready Microsoft Windows 2012 64-bit server.  In addition, the latest Omnicell software release marks a significant increase in the number of connected devices such as ADCs, mobile medication systems and anesthesia workstations that the OmniCenter® enterprise-class hospital server can accommodate. This expanded capacity will help meet the needs of growing health systems.

"Integration, interoperability and scalability are what we strive for as we equip our customers with solutions that impact the clinical care of patients," said Marga Ortigas-Wedekind, Omnicell executive vice president, Global Marketing and Product Development. "The efficiencies that result from our innovations are essential in today's health care landscape, as pharmacists are being called on to participate more directly in patient care." 

About Omnicell

Since 1992, Omnicell (NASDAQ: OMCL) has been creating new efficiencies to improve patient care, anywhere it is delivered. Omnicell is a leading supplier of comprehensive automation and business analytics software for patient-centric medication and supply management across the entire healthcare continuum— from the acute care hospital setting to post-acute skilled nursing and long-term care facilities to the home.

More than 2,800 Acute Care customers worldwide have utilized Omnicell's medication automation, supply chain and analytics solutions to increase operational efficiency, reduce errors, deliver actionable intelligence and improve patient safety. Omnicell Non-Acute Care solutions, including its MTS Medication Technologies brand, provide innovative medication adherence packaging solutions to help reduce costly hospital readmissions. In addition, these solutions enable approximately 6,000 institutional and retail pharmacies worldwide to maintain high accuracy and quality standards in medication dispensing and administration while optimizing productivity and controlling costs.

For more information about Omnicell, Inc. please visit www.omnicell.com.

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SOURCE Omnicell, Inc.