ATLANTA - In the summer of 1992, the landscape of hospital pharmacy operations changed dramatically when St. Clair Hospital launched McKesson ROBOT-Rx, the first robotic drug distribution system designed to automate dispensing and restocking of bar-coded medications. Today, ROBOT-Rx is the world's leading hospital pharmacy robotic medication dispensing system, helping customers more safely and accurately dispense more than 1 million doses each day at more than 300 sites across the United States and Canada.

St. Clair, a 328-bed acute care facility located in suburban Pittsburgh, was the site of the first commercial implementation of ROBOT-Rx. The hospital, which is consistently recognized for its commitment to patient safety and quality initiatives, chose ROBOT-Rx for its efficiency and ability to track medications throughout the dispensing process, helping St. Clair enhance care while lowering costs.

Over the past 20 years, St. Clair's partnership with McKesson has expanded across the hospital's entire medication delivery process, including implementation of a new, fourth generation ROBOT-Rx in 2008. The partnership extended beyond the pharmacy to the nursing floors and surgical suites with the addition of AcuDose-Rx and Anesthesia-Rx medication dispensing cabinets in 2010.
"McKesson's pharmacy automation solutions help us streamline our medication delivery, so patients are getting the medications they need faster and more accurately," said Ron Dermitt, director of pharmacy, St. Clair. "Our staff is able to focus on improving the quality of patient care, rather than time-consuming manual tasks."

St. Clair is consistently recognized for its quality and technology initiatives. It has been named a Thomson Reuters Top 100 Hospital and one of the 100 Most Wired Hospitals by Hospital & Health Networks magazine. The 2010 Way-Paver for Barcode Point-of-Care Award honored St. Clair as the first hospital in the United States to utilize bar-code driven, drug-dispensing robotics to enhance patient safety.

"Through adopting pharmacy automation, St. Clair's leadership has paved the way for hospitals to help achieve better medication management that supports patient safety and enhances operational efficiency, while also reducing costs," said Kraig McEwen, president, McKesson Automation. "We look forward to continuing this partnership to provide cost-effective and efficient solutions that help St. Clair more safely deliver the right medication closer to the patient."

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