VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 13,
2004--AmerisourceBergen Corporation, one of the largest pharmaceutical
services companies in the U.S., today announced its Bridge Medical
unit has received the top vendor ranking in the recently released KLAS
Enterprises "Medication Administration - Bedside Study". KLAS is the
only research and consulting firm that specializes in monitoring and
reporting the performance of the healthcare's information technology
(HIT) vendors. The KLAS Enterprises study was their first ever
evaluation of medication administration systems, measuring performance
ratings across 40 different numeric criteria.
The KLAS Enterprises study found that Bridge Medical and its
MedPoint(TM) patient safety system ranked number one overall among the
top three BPOC vendors. The study also found that Bridge received the
highest score in the Product Quality Rating indicator. Bridge
customers indicated that their selection of the MedPoint system had
been based not only on the advanced system functionality of MedPoint,
but the entire Bridge experience that is defined by a positive sales
and contracting process, top-rated implementation and the highest
quality post implementation support. Jason Hess, Director of Business
Development at KLAS noted, "In our first ever in-depth look at the
Medication Administration market segment, Bridge Medical's customers
reported the highest scores of all vendors in 32 of the 40 numeric
performance indicators."
Upon hearing the KLAS results, John Hummel, chief information
officer of the Sutter Health network of hospitals and physician
organizations in northern California, commented, "I'm not surprised
that Bridge is top rated. Sutter Health has now dispensed over two
million doses using Bridge, making us a leader in the implementation
of BPOC systems. The successful adoption of this technology requires
the right partner. We found that with Bridge."
In response to the study findings Denean Rivera, President of
Bridge Medical, said, "Bridge is very pleased to have KLAS validate
what we have been hearing from our customers, that their experience
with Bridge as a vendor is unmatched in the industry. This achievement
is really a reflection of our successful partnerships with customers
committed to using MedPoint to improve their standard of care. While
we relish our top ranking, our hats are off to all the visionary
hospitals that have made MedPoint the superior system it is today."
The KLAS study comes as the use of technology in medication
administration is broadly gaining the attention as a means to reduce
medication errors and improve patient safety. Often referred to as
"five rights checkers," barcode point-of-care (BPOC) systems provide
technology in support of the right patient receiving the right
medication at the right time by the right route in the right dose. As
the study cites, the Bridge system is most often selected by hospitals
based on its superior product functionality that extends well beyond
the five rights to safeguard patients by providing the nurse advanced
clinical decision support features to avoid medication, transfusion,
and specimen identification errors.
About KLAS
KLAS interviewed 105 respondents, including healthcare CIO's and
department directors, who evaluated 5 vendors on 40 areas of
performance, 3 vendors in the main body of the report and two vendors
in the addendum. The addendum also included overviews on 14 vendors
who are relatively new to the medication administration market. The
report also includes a detailed performance section, technology
assessments, win/loss information, implementation challenges in the
hospital, quantifiable benefits achieved with these solutions, and
overviews on each vendor. This report provides a snapshot of today's
bedside medication administration system vendors and compares their
strengths and weaknesses against one another, rates them against all
medication administration system vendors and finally against the
overall KLAS HIT average (the average of all Healthcare Information
Technology products in the KLAS database).
About AmerisourceBergen
AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) is the largest pharmaceutical
services company in the United States dedicated solely to the
pharmaceutical supply chain. It is the leading distributor of
pharmaceutical products and services to the hospital systems/acute
care market, physician's offices, alternate care and mail order
facilities, independent community pharmacies, and regional chain
pharmacies. Bridge Medical, a wholly owned subsidiary of
AmerisourceBergen, is a leading provider of point-of-care patient
safety solutions and has been honored for its educational initiatives
and patient safety solutions. With more than $47 billion in annualized
operating revenue, AmerisourceBergen is headquartered in Valley Forge,
PA, and employs more than 14,000 people. AmerisourceBergen is ranked
#22 on the Fortune 500 list. For more information, go to
www.amerisourcebergen.com.
CONTACT: AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Valley Forge
Barbara Brungess, 610-727-7199
bbrungess@amerisourcebergen.com
SOURCE: AmerisourceBergen Corporation