Press releases

DUBLIN, Ohio, Dec. 1, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — At next week's 44th Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) in Las Vegas, hospital pharmacy experts from Cardinal Health will highlight solutions, tools and resources designed to help hospital pharmacies improve safety, workflow and cost containment.

Providing pharmaceutical and medical supply chain services to more than one-third of all hospitals nationwide, Cardinal Health was recently ranked by AMR Research as one of the top three global companies for enabling supply chain innovation within the health care industry. With the recent spin off of its medical device businesses, Cardinal Health is re-focused on improving the cost effectiveness of health care by helping customers improve safety, workflow and cost containment.

On Monday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. PST, three of the nation's leading experts on hospital pharmacy safety and accreditation from Cardinal Health's Pharmacy Solutions business – Pat Uselton, vice president of quality and regulatory, and Patricia Kienle and Lee Murdaugh, both directors of accreditation and medication safety – will lead a presentation entitled "Continuous Compliance: Preparing the Pharmacy for a Joint Commission Survey in 2010." These three panelists – who coauthor ASHP's industry-standard textbook on maintaining continuous compliance with Joint Commission standards – will share guidance related to the latest accreditation standards, National Patient Safety Goals and Medication Management standards.

In addition to sharing guidance from the health care industry's foremost thought leaders on accreditation and safety issues facing hospital pharmacies, Cardinal Health will also highlight the following services and tools at this year's ASHP Midyear Meeting and Exhibition: 

• Safety tools: Cardinal Health tools and clinical consulting services help pharmacy leaders improve medication safety while maximizing staff productivity and satisfaction. For example, its web-based medication order management tool, Rxe-view,™ helps pharmacists improve productivity and drug turnaround times while also identifying key safety, quality, productivity and clinical improvements. For hospitals that need pharmacy staffing support during peak service hours or overnight, Rxe-source(SM) offers remote medication order entry and review by one of the nation's largest teams of licensed pharmacists, who are trained on each hospital's unique policies and procedures.

• Workflow tools: Cardinal Health understands that even small changes in how medications get from the manufacturer to the hospital loading dock to the patient bedside can dramatically improve pharmacist productivity, satisfaction and retention, while freeing up their time to focus on patient care. To address this need, the company will highlight electronic order management and replenishment tools like AccountSourceRX and CardinalASSIST®. The company will also showcase consulting services that help pharmacy managers maximize medication distribution and automation systems to produce cost efficiencies, improve safety and comply with regulatory standards.

• Cost containment tools: As hospitals serve an increasing number of uninsured and underinsured patients, it's more important now than ever to identify ways to contain costs while improving health care quality. To address this concern, Cardinal Health will highlight tools and services that help hospital pharmacies improve overall medication cost control, reduce waste and improve workflow, including competitive generic and specialty drug purchasing programs; software to help hospitals compliantly tap into the Federal 340B Drug Savings Program and solutions like eRecovery that help hospitals reduce pharmaceutical costs associated with providing care to uninsured and underinsured patients.

Additionally, to highlight its nationwide leadership of the nuclear pharmacy industry, Cardinal Health is also sponsoring a symposium, entitled "Revisions in the Joint Commission Standards for Radiopharmaceuticals: The Hot Topic for Hospital Pharmacies," on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 9 a.m. PST. Also moderated by Patricia Kienle, the symposium panelists will discuss new standards for the use of radiopharmaceuticals in the hospital setting and the role hospital pharmacists play in the safe use of radiopharmaceuticals.

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.

SOURCE: Cardinal Health, Inc.
Website: cardinalhealth.com