The TerraPharma Project, LLC, an educational advocacy organization that promotes patient safety improvement, today announced agreements with four top healthcare group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to promote The unSUMMIT conference for Bedside Barcoding (http://www.unsummit.com/pdf/unSUMMITBrochure2008.pdf) in Austin, Texas, April 30 – May 2, 2008. Members of Premier Inc, Novation, MedAssets Supply Chain Systems and Amerinet will receive a registration discount to attend the conference that will provide information on the latest barcode-enabled point of care technology (BPOC) designed to reduce medical errors and enhance patient safety.
“After many years of limited adoption, we are seeing a nationwide embrace of bar-coding technology that is both life-saving for patients and career-saving for caregivers,” said unSUMMIT co-creator, Mark Neuenschwander. “The high-profile medication errors at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Methodist Health System in Indianapolis, St Mary’s Medical Center in Madison, Wis. and untold numbers of other hospitals demonstrate that no one is immune from systemic error. Bar coding offers an important tool to safeguard patients.”
The unSUMMIT is a unique educational event that facilitates peer-to-peer exchange and offers hospitals a one-stop-shopping experience to evaluate BPOC systems and associated technologies. Since its initiation in 2005 when estimated adoption rates lagged at less than ten percent, BPOC adoption rates have grown to more than 20 percent, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. As evidence of this momentum, each year The unSUMMIT has attracted a growing number of attendees, vendor participation, and the active support of hospital purchasing groups as Alliance partners.
“The growing enthusiasm demonstrated by our GPO Alliance Partners sends a clear signal that their member hospitals are getting serious about evaluating BPOC technology,” said The TerraPharma Project Managing Partner Jamie Kelly. “Our Alliance partners have a chance to bring value to their member hospitals through unSUMMIT discounts while helping spur the drive to a safer point of care.”
Joe Pleasant, CIO and Senior Vice President for Premier, Inc., expressed his organizations motivation for supporting The unSUMMIT, “A long-time advocate of bar coding, Premier believes that BPOC system adoption represents a critical advance in the hospital community's efforts to improve patient safety and delivery of care. Our members are seeking guidance and The TerraPharma Project with their unSUMMIT conference and online web forum (www.pointofcareforum.com) provide the information hospitals need to successfully implement bedside barcoding.”
“We understand the importance of bedside barcoding initiatives as they relate to patient safety and will enthusiastically support and promote The unSUMMIT educational conference,” said Ross Day, R.Ph., Novation Senior Product Manager. “We believe the members of our alliances are anxious for crucial information that will help them evaluate and adopt systems to improve patient safety in their health care organizations. We hope the registration discounts will encourage as many of those members to attend as possible.”
Likewise, MedAssets Supply Chain Systems' Vice President of Pharmacy Distribution and Managed Care, David Lash, Pharm. D., echoed this sentiment saying, “We augmented our contract offerings to better serve our customers’ interests in BPOC last summer through a contract with IntelliDOT Corporation. To continue these efforts, The unSUMMIT gives us an opportunity to layer education onto exceptional pricing so our customers can get a jump on their system selection and implementation.”
Amerinet reunites with The unSUMMIT this year as well. According to Amerinet Vice President of Pharmacy, Gary Freeman, “We helped The unSUMMIT with their first conference in 2006. Since then, we have seen significant requests for and growth in our member base for BPOC technology. The high-quality education that The unSUMMIT offers will help our hospitals drive the nationwide adoption bar-code safety systems which we feel will considerably improve quality of care and patient safety.”
The unSUMMIT will honor a conference registration fee discount of 20 percent for all Alliance Partner hospital attendees. Attendees will experience two days of BPOC-focused education and may earn as many as 17 nursing and pharmacy continuing education hours in the process. In addition, attendees may elect to participate in one of two post-conference workshops that will explore the value of smart infusion pumps and the role of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in medication safety. Online registration is now open at www.unsummit.com. Individuals may register before Leap Day (February 29th) to take advantage of reduced pricing. Regular pricing takes effect March 1st.
About The TerraPharma Project
The TerraPharma Project, LLC (TTP), Bellevue, Wash., is an peer-to-peer education exchange fueled by the conviction that bar-code point-of-care (BPOC) technology is low-hanging fruit that delivers high returns for patient safety. Committed to promoting the adoption of BPOC in hospitals across the nation, TTP produces The unSUMMIT conference and online web forum PointofCareForum.com. For more information go to www.unsummit.com.