Implementation of an automated medication/supply distribution system.

In the summer of 1992, Carraway Methodist Medical Center implemented a computerized medication and supply distribution system from the pharmacy and central supply to the patient care units. Improved efficiency was achieved in the form of automatic billing, inventory control, decreased worked hours per patient day, and improved documentation. Regulatory requirements relating to narcotic distribution were simplified through technology eliminating manual counting, handwritten signatures, and manual record keeping. The impact from this change was cost effective, allowed more time at the bedside, provided easier access to pharmacy and central supply items, facilitated inventory control, and increased nursing productivity as well as increasing nursing satisfaction.