Ohio Hospital Network Named Winner of McKesson's Outstanding Achievements Award in Healthcare Information Technology
OhioHealth's IT initiative has reduced medication errors by 92 percent, nearly eliminated mislabeled blood specimens and cut patient identification errors by 20 percent, while saving more than $400,000.

COLUMBUS, OH, July 31, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- OhioHealth has received a 2009 VIP Award from McKesson Technology Solutions for its use of information technology (IT) to achieve outstanding results in the delivery of healthcare to the community. The VIP Awards are presented annually to organizations that exhibit vision, innovation and performance in the use of healthcare IT.

OhioHealth is one of five healthcare organizations selected this year by a panel of judges - who are considered experts in the field of healthcare IT use - to receive the electronic medication management award. In honor of its achievements, the system's local foundation will receive a $10,000 grant from McKesson.

OhioHealth won the VIP Award for its use of healthcare IT to support greater safety in its medication and laboratory processes. The health system started this initiative by standardizing medication and lab administration across all eight of its hospitals, helping to ensure that patients receive the best care no matter which hospital they visit. Since beginning the initiative, OhioHealth has reduced medication errors by 92 percent overall, nearly eliminated mislabeled blood specimens, and cut patient identification errors by 20 percent. In addition to improving safety, OhioHealth has saved more than $400,000.

With McKesson technology, OhioHealth doctors now can view patient charts from anywhere with secure Internet access, enabling them to make informed care decisions more quickly. Nurses also are using a bar-code scanning solution to scan patient wristbands and medications at the bedside, helping to ensure the "five rights" of patient safety: the right drug, dose, patient, route and time. OhioHealth's newest hospital, Dublin Methodist, is electronically submitting physician orders with a computerized physician order entry system.

"We've always placed a high value on improving patient safety, and it has become an even more pressing issue as the topic has appeared in the media during recent years," said Michael Krouse, chief information officer, OhioHealth. "We have been pleased that our implementation of McKesson solutions has allowed us to 'close the loop' on medication management. From previously implemented bar code scanning as a final safety check to more recently implemented CPOE that minimizes opportunity for ordering errors, we have dramatically reduced medication related errors at our healthcare facilities."

"As the industry prepares for government stimulus incentives, implementing EHRs and optimizing the use of health IT have become even higher priorities for hospitals and physicians," said Michael Brozino, senior vice president of marketing, McKesson Provider Technologies. "Our customers have long understood the role that health IT can play in reducing the cost of care while providing the best possible treatment to patients. It's an honor to recognize these customers for their outstanding achievements."

VIP Award applicants underwent a rigorous judging process based on six weighted criteria: definition of the business objective, quality of the process used to make improvements, use of McKesson solution in enabling the improvement, impact on clinical and/or financial issues, improvement in service to the community, and the method used to measure results.

For more information on the award, visit www.mckesson.com/VIPawardnews.

Press Release Contact Information:

Courtney Cooper
OhioHealth
Communications
781 Northwest Boulevard
Columbus, Ohio
United States of America 43212
Voice: 614-291-8456
Fax: 413-831-3408
Website: Visit Our Website