Healthcare Matters

Omnicell is a well-recognized provider of sophisticated automation technologies supporting medication management. Pyxis remains the market leader in this expanding niche, but with more than 2500 hospital-customers now, Omnicell is coming on strong. Omnicell’s automated hardware/software systems for medication dispensing include solutions that span the continuum –from the point of hospital entry through the central pharmacy, nursing unit, operating room, and patient bedside –-as well as in long-term care sites.

Partners HealthCare just announced its decision to continue its relationship with Omnicell. It’s not only welcomed news at Omnicell, but according to spokespeople at Partners, “it is the most recent example of the health system’s ongoing efforts to provide the most innovative clinician-centered technology.” To date, Omnicell’s medication automation solutions have been implemented throughout the Partners HealthCare system, including pharmacy, nursing and anesthesia workstations in operating rooms, with plans for increased deployment over the course of this new contract. Said Meg Clapp, chief pharmacy officer, Massachusetts General Hospital. “Advances like automated dispensing cabinets, medication carts, pharmacy carousels and medication packaging software allow our clinicians to more readily access the medication, supplies and information they need to provide our patients with the exceptional care they have come to expect from our facilities.”

As said, Pyxis does have the largest share of the market…believed to be somewhere in the 60% range. If you’re Pyxis management and your customers generically refer to all medication automation systems as “Pyxis Systems, ” you’re obviously in a good place. But when the market grants you the distinction of being like IBM –that “no one ever got fired for selecting Pyxis,” you’ve no doubt achieved a stature that begs examination. Up and comers like Omnicell continue to innovate because they have no choice. It’s recent partnership with Cerner –a deal that promises a new standard of interoperability between medication automation and the industry’s most expansive information technology platform– is no doubt going to inspire some more thoughtful and rigorous competitive evaluations.

Believe it or not, these systems are not yet ubiquitous. And with Cardinal, McKesson and others playing in the same space and networked care delivery models being inherently distributed, the solution profile for medication management is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Source: PRNewswire

—Tom Finn