Alliance Expands Hospital Options

Cardinal Health Inc and Integrated Healthcare Systems (IHS) Inc are working together to provide more options for hospital pharmacies. By integrating its Pyxis automation products with IHS' product suite, Cardinal Health offers a comprehensive solution to automating hospital pharmacies. The process begins from the moment the medication is ordered from the wholesaler and delivered to the pharmacy, until it is stocked in the automated dispensing machine on the nursing floor.

Cardinal Health will market IHS' full line of products, including the Bar Code Labeling System, the OS-PAC oral-solid medication packaging system, and the autoPharm Inventory Manager and carousel storage retrieval system. The suite of products interfaces with Cardinal Health's established pharmacy-centric products, such as the Pyxis Connect physician order management system, Pyxis CIISafe controlled substance management system, Pyxis PARx pharmacy auto-replenishment system, and Pyxis MedStation automated medication management system.

By joining Cardinal Health and IHS technology together, Cardinal will market the following products to its customers under its Pyxis product brand:

• The Pyxis Oral Solid Packager system packages oral solid medications from bulk inventory to unit-dose or multidose packages at rates of up to 60 doses per minute
• The Pyxis Bar Code Labeler system bar codes vials, ampules, intravenous bags, creams, and other pharmacy items, allowing confirmation throughout the medication-use process
• The Pyxis autoPharm inventory manager communicates with Pyxis products and other existing pharmacy systems to prioritize the daily drug fulfillment process