MPSRx Welcomes Suresh Vishnubhatla

Mr. Vishnubhatla joined Millennium Pharmacy Systems in 2007. In his role as the CTO, he oversees the development of the software products and network operations. He joined MPS from BodyMedia Inc., where he was the Senior Vice President, Products and responsible for product development (hardware, software and informatics), clinical research and regulatory affairs. Prior to BodyMedia Mr. Vishnubhatla was responsible for Product Development at Emerson Electric Corporation’s Power and Water Solutions business.

His work during his career was primarily in the fields of real-time systems, software system development, networking and distributed computing. He has over 15 years experience building integrated systems that bring hardware, software and algorithmic components together to perform complex tasks.

The Importance of Technology and Pharmacy Systems

I’ve recently talked to the  Director of Application and Data Services of MPS, Christopher Miller about the role technology plays in pharmacy systems and about his latest speaking event. The following is a transcript of the interview.

What is the primary goal of your technology when walking into a new customer facility?
Our hope is that by reducing errors and overall paperwork, nursing staff can spend more time with the residents of their nursing home.

What challenges does MPS face when taking on a new customer?
Concern about the learning curve and change of how nurses perform med pass. We take the training phase of a new customer start-up very seriously and spend a great deal of time removing the intimidation factor and helping them grow comfortable with the new way of doing things.

What makes you think that MPS is the pioneer in using bar-coded medication management technology?
Barcoding is an integral part of the MPS system. However, it is not its only selling point. Rather than building a system that is based on barcode scanning, we have incorporated the safety and accuracy features of barcoding within a framework of other operationally-guided workflows.

Where do you see technology in regards to long term care medication management in the next five years?
Technology will continue to improve patient outcomes and reduce the risk of errors of medication or documentation. More and more systems from various vendors will share information to reduce paperwork and manual re-entry of data.

In the age of identity theft and privacy issues, how does MPSRX handle such concerns?
Our system uses a private, point-to-point network, encrypted data, and encrypted transmission to keep information very secure. All user activity is logged, approximately 80,000 events per day at a 100-bed nursing home.

You’ve recently lectured at the Pennsylvania Society of Health-System Pharmacists in early October, how was the response and how do you feel MPS ranks in the pharmacy technology playing field?
I was approached by several of the attendees wanting more information about our company and the system that supports it. Specifically to long term care, we are certainly at the forefront of this technology wave.

What makes you feel that MPSRX is the only choice for medication administration safety?
In the skilled care industry, we have the only end-to-end solution; some organizations provide an order entry system, others manage documentation. Ours completes the cycle by managing the process all the way from the order origination to full management of med pass and the clinical documentation the accompanies it.

Christopher tells me that there are plenty of new, exciting and innovative features to be release in the near future.

Again, we are ahead of the curve…

Not too long ago an Institute of Medicine report released on July 20, 2006 stated that at least one-fourth of all medication-related injuries are preventable. The report suggested computer-based strategies such as electronic prescribing, among other initiatives, can help to reduce errors. Since 2003, we have been using computers to prescribe drugs and to electronically receive prescriptions at the pharmacy.

Since the Institute of Medicine recommends that all prescriptions be written electronically by 2010, our years of experience in e-prescribing will help nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other long-term care facilities fulfill this goal. In addition to reducing medication errors, our solutions focus on increasing patient safety while reducing both cost and liability for facilities.