Talyst Partners with Wellfount Pharmacy to Eliminate Medication Waste in Long-Term Care

Talyst InSite™, the first pharmacy automation system designed specifically for long-term care facilities, enables on-demand dispensing and saves nursing time

Bellevue, WA (PRWEB) May 7, 2009 -- Talyst announced today its new partnership with Wellfount Pharmacy, an Indianapolis-based pharmacy that services long-term care facilities. Wellfount will implement Talyst's InSite Remote Dispensing System in long-term care facilities to increase efficiency and reduce medication waste and errors. Talyst made the announcement today at the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) Midyear Meeting in Orlando, Florida.


"We looked at other dispensing solutions but Talyst was the only player that really understood the long-term care market," said Paul Leamon, president and CEO of Wellfount. "The complexities and regulations within the long-term care make it ripe for automation. We're working with Talyst to provide the technology that will save nurses time, make patients safer, and decrease medication waste -- positively impacting both the environment and the bottom line."


Traditionally, Wellfount would deliver medication inventory to long-term care facilities in 14- or 28-day supplies, creating medication waste whenever a patient's prescription changed, or the patient transferred facilities or passed away. Furthermore, according to Leamon, the patients Wellfount services take an average 12 prescriptions a day. With different doctors, pharmacists, administrators and nurses involved in each individual prescription, yet not always in direct contact with one another, the potential for error was always a top concern.


With the InSite Remote Dispensing System, Talyst places a freestanding, secure dispensing unit on site at the long-term care facility. When it is time for a patient to receive their medications, the InSite unit dispenses patient-specific multi-dose packets, each printed with the patient's name, the name of the medication, and a verifying bar code. The nurse scans the bar code with a handheld scanner, verifies the patient and medication information, and administers the medications. Because the prescriptions are dispensed on-demand, there is practically no opportunity for error or waste.


Medication orders can be approved by a distant pharmacist and immediately dispensed at the long-term care facility. The automated system means prescription changes or STAT orders are not delayed by delivery times. The facility also requires less medication inventory on-hand because inventory is determined by actual usage.


"Wellfount is a forward-thinking pharmacy that is responding to a widespread need in the long-term care industry, and that is to reduce waste, improve safety and save nursing time," explains Carla Corkern, CEO of Talyst. "We developed InSite to service this need, and early installations have shown a reduction in nursing medication prep time by up to 75 percent, and Medicare Part A waste was nearly eliminated."


Talyst's partnership with Wellfount represents the growing number of pharmacies and long-term care facilities that are realizing the benefits of the InSite Remote Dispensing System. As long-term care populations swell and nursing shortages worsen, implementing technology can ease the labor burden, improve patient safety and curb medication waste.


For further information, visit Talyst's booth number 1001 at ASCP, or www.talyst.com.


About Talyst:

Talyst is engineering the safer pharmacy. The company was founded in 2002 to provide automated medication management systems to acute care hospital pharmacies. The following year, Talyst launched AutoPharm® , the innovative software platform designed to integrate medication storage, inventory, ordering, barcoding, and clinical systems.


By 2009, Talyst had installed automated systems in close to 400 acute care hospitals and integrated healthcare companies. By leveraging our expertise in acute care pharmacy automation, we are now building unique systems designed specifically to meet the needs of long-term care facilities and correctional institutions. Talyst is dedicated to delivering world-class software and proven hardware components to enhance efficiency, provide greater inventory control, and improve patient safety in all environments. For more information, see talyst.com or call 877-4-Talyst (877-482-5978).

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Healthcare IT News Commentary: While reforming, let’s not overlook long-term care

As our federal government prepares to invest billions of dollars to modernize healthcare, and reform is at the forefront of the agenda, policymakers should take a close look at the huge opportunities at our fingertips that can dramatically reduce medication waste and increase patient safety within long-term care facilities.

If there’s ever been a time to spend every dollar wisely, it’s now. At the very time our economy is floundering, long-term care residency is growing by leaps and bounds. Baby Boomers are aging, and medical advances on all fronts enable patients to live longer with chronic conditions. Despite this need for prudent spending, $376 million of medications, mainly through unconsumed drugs, are flushed down toilets in long-term facilities every year.

Well-intentioned caregivers have little choice. Their hands are bound by red tape, contradictory regulations, and old-fashioned pharmacy relationships that don’t provide any option but to order meds in large quantities and flush or incinerate the unused portions.

Patient safety is also a significant concern as long-term care facilities struggle to manage increasingly complex drug regimens for those in their care. According to Paul Leamon, president and CEO of Wellfount, an Indiana pharmacy that services mainly long-term care facilities, their average patient takes a staggering 12 prescriptions a day. While that number itself is astounding, one must also consider the multiple numbers of people participating in the medication delivery process. There are different doctors, pharmacists, administrators and nurses across various shifts involved in each individual prescription, exponentially increasing the chance of medication errors.

Best practices can be learned, however, from acute care. Facilities across the country have achieved significant ROI and improved patient safety through on-demand, 100 percent-automated medication dispensing, which dispenses individually packaged, bar-coded prescriptions for each individual patient. No more valuable nursing time wasted by popping pills out of blister packs into little paper cups. No more millions of dollars wasted because they have to flush 27 of the 30 doses in standard-delivery blister packs because the doctor changed a patient’s prescription two days into treatment, or the patient was released, transferred to another facility, or passed away.

Wellfount is blazing the trail by implementing this technology to service its more than 40 institutions. When it’s time for Mrs. Smith’s medication, for example, the InSite unit dispenses her medications in individually sealed packets, each printed with her name, the name of the medication, and a verifying bar code. The nurse scans the bar code with a hand-held scanner, verifies the patient and medication information, and administers the meds to her. Because the prescriptions are dispensed on-demand and only one dose at a time, the opportunity for medication error or medication waste is greatly reduced.

Leamon predicts that providers of “smart” health IT technology – like the software and hardware that runs Wellfount’s remote dispensing machines – will fare well in this economic climate. There is an extraordinary new interest in saving money and increasing patient safety. Even the federal government has set aside $19 billion for technology solutions that usher in meaningful change.

There’s no doubt that we need to be strategic and forward thinking about healthcare spending. But while we’re looking down the road at the eventual benefits of this and that, we should also target the low-hanging fruit that yield immediate, dramatic and measurable effects on patient safety and rising healthcare costs.

Carla Corkern chief executive officer at Talyst, has helped build several highly-successful technology companies, and has more than 18 years of experience in high-tech and supply chain management.

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