Patient Life Safety Meets Access Control

Guest post courtesy of Stephen Chew

What happens when patient life safety meets access control? Accu-Tech and Southern Ohio Medical Center team with manufacturers & VAR's to develop a bedside bar code medication dispensing solution that maximizes accuracy and saves lives.

The landmark report, To Err is Human (2000) by The Institute of Medicine, estimated that between 44,000 and 98,000 patients die each year due to preventable medical errors such as wrongful medication administration. Beyond the cost in human lives, the report estimates that the costs due to these errors is near $29 billion per year when including the expenses associated with additional care, lost income, and disability. The report compelled the healthcare industry to initiate more contemporary "Best Practices" and to utilize technology such as Bar Coding to improve patient identification.

SOMC was quick to modernize their practices to address these issues and in the process, recognized that there was still room for improving efficiency and accuracy when delivering and dispensing medications. They were utilizing a 2-Cart dispensing system which included laptops on wheels (LOW's) and pharmacy carts. The system was an improvement from previous practices, however, it was cumbersome. As technology advanced, the need to update the medication dispensing system became apparent.

Doctors, nurses and administrators conferred with Information Services and Applications Manager, Dennis Ward to design a plan of action. It was determined that by incorporating "Best Practices" a cabinet should be mounted outside each patient's room, to temporarily stock the medications prior to dispensing. The cabinet or wall station would be outfitted with an access controlled lock and reader. After deciding on the Carstens WALLeroo 2000 wall station, Ward consulted with access control experts: Accu-Tech Corporation (distributor of voice, data & security products), SecuriCo, Inc. (access control software & hardware provider), HID (leading manufacturer of access control readers & cards), and a full service technology integrator to discuss the hospital's needs and to integrate the wall station into a system to meet those needs.

Ward had several primary concerns regarding an access controlled wall station that needed to be addressed before developing the final solution.
• Pre-testing indicated that individual power sources were not reliable enough so there needed to be a primary power source.
• The wall stations needed to be centrally networked and managed, utilizing SOMC's state of the art eMar system (Electronic Medication Administration Record).

Ward initially consulted with Accu-Tech's Columbus, Ohio Branch Manager Matt Daugherty, to discuss these concerns. Daugherty set up a conference with HID, who referred them to SecuriCo to determine if a software solution could be designed to meet the desired requirements. "SOMC project requirements were to use both a web based software solution and an IP PoE Access Control solution", stated Jim Andrews, President of SecuriCo, Inc. "After Dennis Ward and I reviewed the project requirements, and after discussing the design options with Accu-Tech everyone agreed that Securus Web^TM software solution, HID Global ER-40 iClass Edge Hosted Readers, and iClass 37bit 2K cards were the perfect fit to a very unique access control solution."

As an HID OEM partner, SecuriCo pre-programs the readers to SOMC's specifications. The Securus Web^TM software registers who got in, where and when, and how access is added and removed, with Human Resources oversight and authorization. The end result for SOMC is a WALLeroo 2000 that has been modified with an HID Edge Reader, Rutherford Controls 3513 Lock, Extreme Power-Over-Ethernet Switch, and is connected to the network and power supply via Commscope 5504 Cable, all controlled by SecuriCo's Securus Web^TM software, which is ultimately managed by SOMC's eMar System.

This innovative solution allows the pharmacy to deliver bar coded 24 hour scheduled medications to the secured wall mount station. The nursing staff, using iCLASS cards, accesses the station and scans both the medication (bar coded per dosage) and the patient prior to administering the scheduled medication. The solution enables protocol while enhancing accuracy and insuring the Five Patient Rights.

The above information, along with additional material, can be found in Stephen's case study.