Press Release – For Immediate Release November 2008
Contact: Leslie Russo Bayer 913.403.5425
lbayer@scriptpro.com • www.scriptpro.com

SP Central Pharmacy Management System Provides Services Designed for Children

Mission, Kan — ScriptPro USA, Inc. has teamed up with the outpatient pharmacy at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, MO to develop a Pharmacy Management System that addresses the unique needs of a pediatric pharmacy.

ScriptPro worked with CMH&C to incorporate new features and functionality into the SP Central Pharmacy Management System software platform such as weight-based dosing logic for children's prescriptions, pediatric drug utilization review (DUR) modules, and customized prescription “SIG” features.

According to Wendy Robinson, R.Ph., Assistant Director of Pharmacy, “CMH&C found a partner in ScriptPro who was willing to be as innovative as possible to develop features specific to the unique needs of a pharmacy for children.”

Since proper medication dosing is extremely critical in a pediatric pharmacy, SP Central calculates the appropriate dose for each prescription based on the patient’s height and weight. This improves accuracy and saves the pharmacist from making the same calculations manually.

When Chip Bruce, R.Ph., Outpatient Pharmacy Manager, first encountered the automatic weight based dosing he was skeptical. “When I first came to the hospital, I calculated every single dose for every single prescription. After 1,000 prescriptions, I realized that ScriptPro was coming up with the same number automatically. The time saved from figuring every dose is measurable, not to mention improved accuracy ScriptPro delivers,” he says.

The system interfaces with the hospital system so that the patient's height and weight are automatically kept current in the patient's file and it recalculates the appropriate dose for every refill prescription.

The success of the reorganization project at CMH&C Pharmacy hinged on a state-of-the-art workflow system to enforce the new processes and provide tools for tracking, organizing, and streamlining all work in the pharmacy. A few features of the SP Central Pharmacy Management System specific to a pediatric hospital setting are:

• Automatic conversion of prescription dosing is available. If the prescription SIG dose is written in milligrams, the system can convert the dose to milliliters (30-50% of pediatric prescriptions are dispensed as liquid).
• The maximum and minimum dose is checked for every drug, taking into consideration the number of doses per day.
• Pharmacist can specify DUR Persists for all refill prescriptions.
• DUR, weight-based dosing check, and adjudication are supported for every ingredient used in compounded drugs.
• DUR checks for interactions with other medications, supplements, and over-the-counter products.

ABOUT SCRIPTPRO: ScriptPro develops, provides and supports state-of-the-art, robotics-based management and workflow systems for pharmacies. ScriptPro is dedicated to helping pharmacies lower operating costs, reduce dispensing errors and maximize customer satisfaction. ScriptPro technology helps pharmacies operate efficiently and profitably so they can deliver the maximum contribution to the healthcare system. ScriptPro, with headquarters in Mission, Kansas, provides automation to thousands of pharmacies worldwide.

ABOUT CHILDREN’S MERCY HOSPITALS &CLINICS: CMH&C is a comprehensive pediatric medical center and the only free-standing children’s hospital between St. Louis and Denver. The organization includes a licensed inpatient bed capacity of 314, which includes a neonatal intensive care unit and a pediatric intensive care unit. In addition, outpatient clinics are located at the main campus and throughout the Kansas City area, with outreach clinics serving Topeka and Wichita, KS and Omaha, NE for pediatric specialty clinics. Children and families from coast to coast and around the world are served by the CMH&C pediatric center.