Bridge Medical experts speak at Atlanta pharmacy conference

To prevent these errors, safety-conscious hospitals are adopting barcode-enabled medication administration software and sharing their results with their peers.

Medication safety expert Susanne Larrabee, RPh, will share her experiences in using barcode technology to protect patients from medication errors at the ASHP (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) Midyear Clinical Meeting next week in Atlanta. The world's largest annual gathering of pharmacists, the conference will be held Dec. 8-12 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

A pioneer in the development and implementation of barcode-enabled point-of-care (BPOC) medication safety technology, Larrabee will discuss "Recognizing Institutional Benefits of a BPOC Medication Administration System" at 4 p.m., Dec. 9, (Room A402) as part of a Management Case Studies Session (A) beginning at 2 p.m.

The Northern Michigan Hospital clinical pharmacist and her colleagues in Petoskey have been using BPOC technology from Bridge Medical to protect patients from preventable medication errors since 1998. Today approximately 50 hospitals -- including pediatric and teaching hospitals -- have contracted with Bridge to deploy the Bridge MedPoint patient safety system.

"MedPoint has not only prevented a significant number of potential errors, but the information we have gained through its use has allowed us to do root cause analysis and change some of our processes," explained Larrabee, "insuring that we are eliminating the sources for potential errors in our medication delivery process."

The 30,000-member ASHP has been urging the FDA to mandate barcodes on all medication packages to significantly improve patient safety in the nation's hospitals and health systems. "Barcoding technology is ... found everywhere," ASHP patient safety expert Kasey Thompson, PharmD, told the FDA in July, "... except where it can do the greatest good -- saving lives."

Bridge Executive Director, Clinical Services, Barbara Trohimovich, RPh, BSPharm, will speak daily on using barcoding to prevent medication errors (AmerisourceBergen Booth 152). The former hospital pharmacist will join other Bridge clinicians in demonstrating MedPoint-MedAdmin software at Booths 1746 (Bridge) and 152.

About Northern Michigan Hospital

A regional referral center for 400,000-plus residents in 23 northern Michigan counties, Northern Michigan Hospital has a 102-year history of intensive caring. Physicians and hospitals across the region send their most critical patients to the 243-bed community hospital for specialized treatment and care. In October, NMH was named one of the "Solucient 100 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals." On the Net: NMH site: http://www.northernhealth.org

About Bridge

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Solana Beach, Calif., Bridge Medical has pioneered the use of barcoding at the point of care to prevent medication and other clinical errors. On the Net: Bridge Medical site: http://www.bridgemedical.com

MedPoint is a trademark of Bridge Medical Inc. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Bridge Medical Inc.
Carol Somer, 858-314-5538
888-578-0100, ext. 5538 (toll-free)
858-204-7424 (cell)
csomer@bridgemedical.com
or
Northern Michigan Hospital
Tom Spencer, 231-487-4872
tspencer@northernhealth.org