IntelliGuard™ Announces Integration Of IntelliGuard Anesthesia With Epic Systems

Integration Provides a Cohesive Solution via Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology to Meet the Growing Demands of Health Care Providers Amid the U.S. Opioid Crisis

Carlsbad, CA /PRNewswire/ - IntelliGuard™, the global leader in RFID medication management technology, today announced the integration of its IntelliGuard Anesthesia solution with Epic, one of the world's largest electronic medical record providers. With this integration, IntelliGuard's revolutionary and industry-leading RFID tracking technology for anesthesiologists will now be connected to Epic software, bringing the health care industry one step closer to hospital interoperability.

Bridging The Communication Gap
The health care industry is notoriously known for creating disjointed workflows and time-consuming steps for care givers at all levels, including anesthesiology providers. Because systems from different departments fail to communicate with each other, providers are forced to shift most of their focus from patient care to administrative work.

To improve communication and help create greater efficiencies in the operating room, IntelliGuard's Intelligent Inventory Solutions™ offer real-time inventory monitoring and analysis, eliminating the need for manual tracking. By integrating IntelliGuard Anesthesia with Epic, anesthesiologists and pharmacists can accurately track medication – including controlled substances – after it has been dispensed. RFID technology provides deeper insight into when a medication was dispensed, the amount administered to the patient, which patient received the medication and any allergies associated with their condition. With a passive workflow, health care professionals can streamline medication management and increase time spent on patient care.

"IntelliGuard is continuously dedicated to eliminating pain points and frustrations of siloed workflows in the operating room," said Gordon Krass, President and CEO of IntelliGuard. "Barcode technology can only account for roughly two-thirds of medication inventory at a time, which simply isn't enough to ensure hospitals have an accurate pulse on medication utilization and inventory. Our automated inventory tracking and analysis via RFID, paired with Epic, will provide deeper and more reliable visibility and accountability for anesthesiology and pharmacy departments from start to finish."

Controlled Substance Diversion In Hospitals
New research finds hospital drug diversion is an underreported contributor to the opioid epidemic and often goes undetected, leading to patient safety issues, harm to the diverter and significant legal and financial risk for the hospitals and health systems.

Half of the respondents report they have observed suspicious activity in their hospitals that may have been evidence of diversion. Health care professionals also believe antiquated technologies and tools to detect diversion are only somewhat effective and expressed the need for improved real-time detection tools to identify diverters.

How Intelliguard Can Help
Known for its industry-leading solutions that enable effective and efficient medication inventory and critical care supply management, IntelliGuard has helped hospitals and health systems eliminate human error, improve cost control, reduce risk and increase efficiency.

IntelliGuard launched the IntelliGuard Anesthesia Station in 2018 to provide true operating room medication management, using RFID to record real-time drug dispense data in procedural areas, without disrupting anesthesiologists or delaying patient care. The addition of the Epic integration is just one example of IntelliGuard's commitment to address a critical component of health care that is ripe for improvement and modernization.

IntelliGuard Anesthesia also manages controlled substances while helping to prevent and detect diversion in traditionally challenging areas, such as the operating room. With hundreds of controlled substances scanned simultaneously within seconds, clinicians are alerted of any sign of diversion, and can track the chain of custody from the pharmacy to the point-of-care.

For more information on IntelliGuard and its suite of RFID-enabled solutions, please visit ig.solutions.

About IntelliGuard® Intelligent Inventory Solutions™
IntelliGuard is a leading innovator of Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) solutions that offer automation to enable effective and efficient management of pharmaceutical inventory and critical care supplies in health care. IntelliGuard Intelligent Inventory Solutions provide unparalleled automation, real-time visibility, data and intelligence that touch nearly every part of the supply chain distribution process – from hospital and health system pharmacies to manufacturer and distributor supply chains. IntelliGuard develops patent technology and processes with an unwavering commitment to accuracy to eliminate human error, improve cost control, reduce risk, and increase efficiency. IntelliGuard Enterprise Solutions are comprised of modular, scalable inventory management products that include IntelliGuard Pharmacy, IntelliGuard Anesthesia, IntelliGuard Smart Cabinets and the analytics engine, Insights™. IntelliGuard is a charter member of RAIN RFID global alliance.

IntelliGuard is a dba of MEPS Real-Time, Inc. MEPS, MEPS Real-Time and IntelliGuard are registered trademarks and Intelligent Inventory Solutions, IG Solutions and the IG logo are trademarks of MEPS Real-Time, Inc., Carlsbad, CA, in the United States and/or other countries.

Epic is a registered trademark of Epic Systems Corporation.