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Cardinal Health also shares deep clinical expertise, offering free continuing education courses on key efficiency, safety issues that face or nurses

DENVER, March 11, 2010 — At the 57^th annual AORN Congress, March 13-18 in Denver, Cardinal Health will highlight key health care solutions and share clinical expertise that can help nurses drive better operating room (OR) outcomes.

Cardinal Health will also share its deep expertise in OR safety and efficiency by hosting several continuing education (CE) courses at AORN – each of which is approved for two CE credits. Key topics include:

• Preference Card Management: Improving Clinical Efficiency and Patient Care – Surgeon preference cards provide the basis for business, financial and operational decisions and can play a critical role in the efficient management of perioperative suites. This session will review the challenges associated with preference card management and the financial impact that poorly managed systems can have on overall cost efficiency. It will also provide a seven-step preference card management process that nurses can use to improve OR efficiency and labor savings; decrease waste and returns; identify cost-per- procedure; improve charge capture and free up clinician time to focus on patient care.

• Employee Safety in the OR: Taking Safety into Your Own Hands – The OR is a unique practice environment that by its very nature places clinicians at higher risk for exposure to risks and injuries. This continuing education course will review various workplace safety risk factors, standards and regulations to help perioperative nurse managers and educators maintain a compliant OR atmosphere that promotes employee safety.

• Understanding Facial Protection: What to Know and What to Wear – Surgical masks and other types of facial protection play a critical role in preventing the spread of germs and serious diseases through talking, sneezing or coughing during surgical procedures. This session will review the various types of facial protection devices that can protect against the various occupational health hazards that are common in surgical settings. It will also share key criteria that clinicians can use to select the appropriate type of facial protection for various clinical applications.

• Clinical and Economic Implications of Urinary Tract Infections in Patient Care – Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) can lead to increased morbidity and mortality. They can also have a negative economic impact on health care facilities, because of recent changes in Medicare reimbursement policies. This continuing education course will provide an overview of both the clinical and economic implications of CAUTIs, will explore the risk factors and complications associated with CAUTIs and will discuss strategies for preventing, diagnosing and treating them.

In addition to sharing clinical expertise via free CE sessions, Cardinal Health will highlight an array of solutions at its AORN Booth #608 that help drive better operating room outcomes.

• AORN Congress attendees can participate in interactive demonstrations of the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge^® system in a mock OR environment. Cardinal Health's preferred solution for the prevention of retained foreign objects, the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge system is a comprehensive sponge counting and documentation system which helps prevent sponges and towels from unintentionally being left in patients during surgical procedures.
  
  Attendees can also check out SurgiCount's new electronic surgical checklist tool, which allows health care providers to use the SurgiCount handheld scanner to electronically verify pertinent information such as the patient's name, procedure site and type, allergic reactions, etc., prior to initiating each surgical procedure. This interactive, fully customizable tool is expected to be commercially available in Summer 2010 and virtually supports patient safety efforts and eliminates the need for hard copy surgical checklists. The tool also allows procedure-specific patient information to be uploaded into a hospital's OR information system.

• Whether they're focused on reducing OR waste or driving down water consumption, visitors to Cardinal Health's booth at this year's AORN Congress can also learn more about how its various solutions can support hospital environmental goals.
  Attendees can get a first hand look at Hybrid Preference Packs™, which reduce waste by combining both reusable and single-use products in customized surgical kits containing the key elements needed for various procedures. Attendees can also learn more about Cardinal Health's EcoChoice™ line of light handles, which are made from 25% recycled contents; and how its full line of single-use clinician apparel and patient protection products can help hospitals provide consistent, reliable, cost-effective protection while helping health care providers address their long-term environmental goals.
  
  Cardinal Health booth visitors can also learn more about how its ORwell™ Fluid Collection and Disposal System can minimize the potential for bringing contaminated devices back into the OR after disposal, through the use of its innovative, single-use disposable collection disc. The disc, which provides a clean and simple solution for the safe handling of high-volume surgical fluid waste, also helps hospitals reduce waste because it reduces or eliminates the need to dispose of full suction canisters.

• The company will also highlight its extensive portfolio of clinically effective, cost-effective private brand products, which help fight healthcare acquired infections, promote good hand hygiene practices and standardize anesthesia and urology purchases. Cardinal Health will also highlight its best-in-class, private brand safety needles and syringes that help prevent needle stick injuries and its new surgical tape product offering, which includes transparent, silk, paper, foam, cloth adhesive and waterproof tapes.

• Attendees can also learn more about how pairing Cardinal Health's Esteem^® Blue surgical gloves with Neu-Thera^® emollient coating with its Esteem Micro^® powder-free polyisoprene surgical gloves can help OR nurses support double-gloving initiatives while minimizing latex allergy concerns and promoting skin wellness.

About Cardinal Health
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a Fortune 18 health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites focus on patient care while reducing costs, improving efficiency and quality, and increasing profitability. As one of the largest health care companies in the world, Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products to more than 40,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operating the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Cardinal Health employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at cardinalhealth.com.