April 30, 2019

Grifols Announces PharmacyKeeper Bidirectional Integration with Epic

  • PharmacyKeeper Verification Intravenous (IV) Workflow Management system integration with Epic is designed to increase patient safety and efficiency with hospital pharmacy systems
  • Data exchange functionality between PharmacyKeeper and hospital electronic medical records also ensures accurate financial and inventory management in Epic

Barcelona, Spain, April 30, 2019 – Grifols (MCE: GRF, MCE: GRF.P, NASDAQ: GRFS), a leading global producer of plasma-derived medicines and provider of technologies and services for hospitals, clinics and compounding centers, announced today that its PharmacyKeeper Verification IV Workflow Management system now supports bidirectional integration with Epic.

The interoperability between the workflow management platform and Epic’s health information system is designed to enhance patient safety, efficiency and compliance with state compounding regulations. For example, the exchange of information helps in the preparation of patient-specific doses and batch orders and creates safe processes for patient care.  In addition, the automatic data exchange functionality in PharmacyKeeper allows for more accurate financial and inventory management in Epic.

Hospital Sisters Health System, based in Springfield, Illinois, recently incorporated the new PharmacyKeeper two-way interface into its inpatient pharmacy system.

The PharmacyKeeper and Epic integration supports the hospital's records by synchronizing information including national drug code (NDC) numbers used during compounding, amount dispensed, amount wasted, lot numbers and expiration dates.

As a multi-institutional health care system focused on high-quality and patient-centered care, Hospital Sisters Health System has implemented the new PharmacyKeeper interface throughout its inpatient pharmacy system linking its dedicated intravenous workflow systems and hospital electronic medical records.

“We are very pleased to collaborate with Hospital Sisters Health System on this integration, which will help the hospital further improve patient safety and its pharmacy’s efficiencies and workflow,” said Rob Jagt, president, Grifols Hospital Commercial Division. “This is a major milestone for our PharmacyKeeper technology, services and software portfolio, and demonstrates our commitment to delivering innovative hospital pharmacy solutions.”

“We are happy to have the ability to collect and integrate this data in one system without losing the advantages of PharmacyKeeper,” said Josh Schmees, PharmD, Pharmacy Informaticist and Pharmacy Informatics Residency Program Director, Hospital Sisters Health System. “For our team, using an automated solution is a big win for the hospital system and still preserves an efficient workflow.”

Grifols PharmacyKeeper Verification mitigates risks of medication errors through defined compounding processes that include barcode validation and remote photo verification. It supports pharmacist approval with a robust audit trail and is designed to fit varying workflows without disruption.

PharmacyKeeper Verification is just one of several web-based applications in the Grifols PharmacyKeeper portfolio designed to improve key pharmacy operational processes and enhance patient safety in intravenous compounding. PharmacyKeeper also supports one-way integration to receive orders and other information from Cerner, Allscripts, Meditech, Talyst, and more.

The PharmacyKeeper suite of software applications was developed by MedKeeper, which Grifols acquired in January 2018. PharmacyKeeper Verification recently ranked #1 in the 2019 State of Pharmacy Compounding report (Pharmacy Purchasing & Products) in the IV Workflow Management Automation Category. The PP&P report is an annual survey of hospital pharmacy compounding practices representing 363 of hospitals in the U.S. In 2018, Grifols ranked in the top three. PharmacyKeeper also earned the honor of 2019 Category Leader in IV Workflow Management in the 2019 Best in KLAS: Software & Services report. This is the third consecutive year that PharmacyKeeper received the distinction.