Amerinet and McKesson sign exclusive multi-product agreement

Published: 10/17/2007

ATLANTA, GA, USA - (HealthTech Wire) - McKesson, the world’s largest healthcare services, automation and information technology company, has signed an agreement with Amerinet Inc., a leading national healthcare purchasing organization, to be the single-source provider of central pharmacy robotic drug distribution systems to Amerinet members. The agreement also gives Amerinet members access to McKesson’s bar-code based medication packaging solutions.

As part of the three-year agreement, Amerinet’s 2,100 member hospitals will have the option to purchase McKesson’s robot (ROBOT-Rx™) for the central pharmacy, which is widely recognized for its accuracy in the prevention of medication dispensing errors. Members may also purchase packaging technologies (including PACMED™ and Bulk Packagers) that provide unit-dose bar-coded medications to facilitate medication scanning at the point of care.

“McKesson is honored to work with Amerinet as it seeks to achieve safer and more efficient medication management in its member hospitals,” said Dave Souerwine, president of McKesson’s automation solutions group. “This agreement is also an important opportunity to demonstrate the value of McKesson’s integrated solutions in a market that represents approximately a quarter of the nation's hospitals.”

By rapidly producing oral solid medications in bar-coded packages, PACMED and Bulk Packagers accelerate medication dispensing, administration, charging and inventory capabilities. ROBOT-Rx is the only proven robotic inpatient pharmacy system based on more than a decade of pharmacy automation expertise, and it operates successfully in hundreds of hospital pharmacies throughout the United States and Canada. These robots dispense half a billion bar-coded medication doses every year – virtually error-free. ROBOT-Rx provides the foundation for hospitals that want to scan medications at the bedside using bar-code verification, ensuring the “five rights” of medication safety - the right patient receives the right medication, at the right time, in the right dosage, and via the right route.