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EHR -connected Symbiq device will be demonstrated at Hospira booth number 4621 at the Health Information Management Systems Society Annual Conference and Exhibition ( HIMSS 2010 ).

Hospira, Inc., a leading provider of clinical information and medication delivery technologies, announced a partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital to implement one of the first integrations of the wireless Symbiq infusion device with built-in Hospira MedNet safety software and the Cerner Millennium EHR through the Cerner CareAware iBus system. Integrating these technologies enables auto-programmed infusion pumps, minimizing manual programming of the device and helping to decrease medication dosing errors, increase compliance with medication orders and reduce pump programming time.

The Symbiq auto-programming implementation builds on UAB's existing culture of innovation and technological leadership. Once the technology is fully implemented, UAB Hospital clinicians will manage bedside patient medication administration using more than 1,000 wireless, auto-programmed enabled Symbiq devices across the facility. When completed, this will represent the largest installation of wireless Symbiq pumps in the Southeast region of the United States, and the first Symbiq auto-programming deployment in this part of the country.

Auto programming infusion devices allows nurses to use individual barcodes on the patients' hospital I.D. wristbands, intravenous (I.V.) bag and device to automatically send information from the EHR into the infusion device, and confirm that the right drug and right dose is being administered to the right patient, at the right time and by the right route. As a result, clinicians have fewer programming steps and can seamlessly verify the five rights of medication administration to ensure the pump is programmed as ordered by the physician. The Symbiq device with Hospira MedNet is connected to the Cerner Millennium EHR through the Cerner CareAware iBus, a plug-and-play device connectivity architecture that enables two-way communication between Hospira infusion systems and the EHR .

The Symbiq LCD touch screen -- the largest available on infusion pumps -- enables easy upgrades to future functionality. The UAB Hospital team has completed and validated the first phase of the Symbiq wireless rollout in the hospital's hematology and oncology units. As a result of the initial success, the hospital is beginning the next expansion phase to implement the Symbiq devices on the remaining hospital units. University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital will then start enabling the auto- programming functionality of the pumps.  

The EHR -connected Symbiq device will be demonstrated at Hospira booth number 4621 at the Health Information Management Systems Society Annual Conference and Exhibition ( HIMSS 10 ), in Atlanta through March 4.

Source: Hospira

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