Jerry Fahrni

The MedBoard Medication Tracking System (MTS) from Baxa is a web-based medication system designed to help you track the flow of medications from entry in the pharmacy system to delivery on the nursing unit. The MTS can be integrated into you pharmacy workflow as part of your existing bar coding system.

The MedBoard™ Medication Tracking System is the first wireless medication tracking system.

Web-based MedBoard records pharmacy preparation and delivery activities, improving pharmacy productivity through order prioritization and delivery assurance.

Dynamic order monitoring reduces waste by ensuring doses are filled and delivered on time. Information screens provide real-time order status, eliminating time spent fielding nursing calls and replacing lost doses. MedBoard tracks the pharmacy orders that are not stocked in automated distribution cabinets (ADCs), such as:

* First fills
* Stat orders
* Compounded items
* Oral medications
* Irregular-sized items

Through barcode technology, the Medication Tracking System helps pharmacies manage workflows. Simple to implement, the system requires only a Web browser and handheld scanners to get started.

MedBoard offers HIPAA-compliant medication tracking. Using handheld barcode scanners, MedBoard hospital pharmacies are able to record order preparation and delivery activities quickly and efficiently. This information is transmitted wirelessly to a secure Web site that displays the real-time status of orders throughout an organization. The information also can be uploaded to the MedBoard System via a docking station.

Medication orders are automatically communicated to MedBoard via an HL7 interface with your pharmacy’s information system. This HL7 interface provides real-time order tracking for new drug orders.

The positives to the MedBoard system are that no special hardware is required for the application and it can function on most standard bar code readers used in pharmacies today. MedBoard itself can support 1D and 2D barcodes. However, the best part of the system is the ability to access MedBoard with any device that is web enabled; desktop PC, laptop, tablet PC, pocket PC handheld, or windows mobile smartphone. This makes it easy for any healthcare provider with access to the MedBoard system to see where medications are in the distribution process.

An example of a typical workflow involving MedBoard can be seen below. While I don’t think this system would work well in a facility such as ours that relies heavily on automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs), i.e.Pyxis, for dispensing, it may provide benefit to facilities that still use a cart fill model. Dispensing items from ADCs often eliminates the need to track medication orders from the pharmacy to the patient. Hospitals that use a cart fill model, however, often struggle to keep track of the hundreds of medications dispensed from the pharmacy each day, resulting in lots of time consuming “missing med” calls.