ForHealth Technologies
About ForHealth
Founded in 1998, ForHealth Technologies specializes in automation
technology for intravenous drug preparation and is committed to a
mission of advancing patient safety with technology solutions. ForHealth
is known for IV automation expertise in hospital pharmacies throughout
the U.S., with more than 22+ million patient doses prepared to date.
Business Challenge
ForHealth’s IntelliFilli.v. and IntelliFlow products deliver
safe, accurate, efficient and reliable preparation of IV medications,
greatly enhancing both the safety of patients and the efficiency of
hospital pharmacies. Reducing the level of human intervention and
applying automated checks and controls improves safety for patients and
clinicians.
However, despite the availability of technology that can protect
patients for as little as $.25 per dose, deadly and preventable
medication errors continue to take place at hospitals that are using
antiquated processes for calculating and administering patient doses. In
2008, two very public incidents of Heparin overdoses to young babies
brought a national spotlight to the problem of human medication error
and the need for better technology in hospital pharmacies
Hart-Boillot Strategy
Working with ForHealth Technologies, Hart-Boillot sought to raise
awareness of the medication error problem and more specifically, the
need for technology that can improve patient safety in hospital
pharmacies. Unfortunately, mainstream media continued to turn a blind
eye to the problem, not recognizing the critical role hospital
pharmacies play in preparing proper doses and the inefficient conditions
in which they currently operate.
In July, 2008, as the local and national media covered a tragic case of
Heparin overdoses to 14 babies in a Corpus Christi, Texas, Hart-Boillot
and ForHealth decided that the time for change was now.
In the hours following the news, Hart-Boillot reached out to reporters
and offered ForHealth Technologies Chief Pharmacy Officer Dennis
Tribble, Pharm.D., as an expert resource on hospital pharmacies and
patient safety. It was imperative that reporters get the story right,
and understand why pharmacists need better processes and technology in
order to do their jobs well and prevent mistakes.
Hart-Boillot also issued a “call for change” message from Mr. Tribble,
who also serves as the Chairman of the American Society of
Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) Section on Pharmacy Informatics and
Technology.
Results
Hart-Boillot immediately arranged a series of interviews with national,
local and trade media to discuss hospital pharmacy safety and prepared a
medication error “did you know?” fact sheet to give reporters easy and
fast access to the latest industry information and numbers.
Sample week-of coverage includes:
- The Wall Street Journal quoted Dennis Tribble in its coverage of the incident:
High-tech solutions are emerging as well. Big hospitals may have a robotic system that automatically mixes the ordered dose and proportions — as long as the orders were entered correctly and the right compounds are stored in the right places. Tribble is co-founder of ForHealth Technologies, which markets a system to track and photograph pharmacy techs as they mix doses, letting the tech or a pharmacist review what they’ve actually done after the fact. - The Corpus-Christi Caller-Times also quoted Tribble in its story, “Pharmacy errors remain part of landscape” that reinforced the need for better technology in hospital pharmacies. In it, Tribble notes: “We are simply at the point where human diligence is no longer adequate," said Dennis Tribble, chief pharmacy officer of ForHealth Technologies, based in Sarasota, Fla. He and others who sell technological pharmacy systems say their new technology is the only way to reduce pharmacy errors. “I can guarantee that two people saw the error and missed it,” he said.
Baxa Corporation purchased ForHealth Technologies in 2009.
