Omnicell and Pocket Nurse Announce Agreement to Provide State-of-the-Art Medication Automation to Nurse Education Organizations

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnicell, Inc., (NASDAQ: OMCL), today announced that Pocket Nurse, a leading provider for nursing healthcare education and medical simulation initiatives, has entered into an agreement to bring state-of-the-art medication automation solutions to the nursing education market. Pocket Nurse will develop real-world simulated education curriculums using Omnicell^® automated medication dispensing systems for nursing students in healthcare education and medical simulation education programs in the USA & Canada.

Together, Omnicell and Pocket Nurse will bridge the academic preparation of nursing students with real-world experience by providing medication management technology used by nurses in the majority of hospitals across the country.

Simulation labs are today's adjunctive method for nurse education¹. Just as pilots refine and hone their skills on the ground in simulators, nurses need to be able to practice their craft in a dynamic and realistic environment. The rapid advance of technology in simulation education allows students unlimited opportunities to practice clinical events in a safe and controlled environment. As simulated education programs continue to evolve, educators are tasked with improving and fine-tuning the skills of today's nurses as current staffing shortages increase and the demand for nurses heightens. Validating this new initiative, Lees-McRae College will be deploying Omnicell technology into their updated state-of-the-art simulation labs, scheduled to be open in fall 2015.

Pocket Nurse is well known within the nurse education and simulation center communities. Key purchasers of the Company's solutions include nursing educators, simulation center supervisors, and programs for continuing nursing education. Pocket Nurse will provide a wide range of Omnicell's catalog of products, particularly those designed for nursing, including:

• OmniRx^® automated medication dispensing cabinets (medication cabinets) including the integrated Medication Label Printer that allows nurses to print patient-specific labels right from the medication cabinet during medication issue. The Omnicell medication cabinets also include the Touch & Go™ advanced biometric ID system, designed with state-of-the-art biometric technology to improve efficiency and security.
• Savvy™ mobile medication workstation, which streamlines the medication administration process and provides safe and secure transportation of medications from the medication cabinet to the patient's bedside.
• Anywhere RN™ remote medication management software, a unique web-based application that allows nurses to remotely access the Omnicell dispensing cabinets at their convenience from virtually any hospital workstation, to streamline workflow and minimize interruptions that can lead to medication administration errors.

"Omnicell has a long-standing history of supporting the vital role nurses play in caring for patients with innovative solutions that improve their workflow and support improved patient outcomes," states J. Christopher Drew, executive vice present, Field Operations at Omnicell. "We are proud to work with Pocket Nurse. This agreement further supports nurses in the academic environment prior to the start of their professional careers."

"Continuous innovation and realistic, dynamic environments are central to nursing education and offer the hands-on experience necessary to properly refine clinical skills," says Anthony Battaglia, president at Pocket Nurse. "As a company founded and operated by nurses, we take pride in understanding the daily demands nurses face and our goal is to lessen the transition of students out of the classroom and into clinical settings. Partnering with Omnicell expands the technology we're able to offer simulation centers and increases the quality of education nursing students receive."

"It's impossible to teach student nurses a correct and comprehensive way to practice their skills without all the properly integrated technology in place," offers Justin Allen, BSN, RN, instructor of Nursing and Health Sciences at Less-McRae College. "With the number of pre-licensure nursing students outpacing the amount of clinical experience available, it's important that in the simulation environment these students have the most exposure we can give them to real world experiences."

Omnicell representatives were present in the Pocket Nurse booth at the International Meeting for Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH) conference January 10-13 where they had an opportunity to discuss the new agreement with attendees.

About Pocket Nurse

Pocket Nurse^®, a leading simulation laboratory and healthcare education solutions company, was founded more than twenty years ago to conveniently and cost-effectively provide essential clinical learning supplies to colleges and universities. Today, Pocket Nurse sells more than 7,500 products throughout the U.S. and in 180 countries worldwide to a diverse population of public and private institutions across the academic, governmental and healthcare enterprise. A Nurse Owned and Operated company, Pocket Nurse is the market share leader for products such as Student Health Totes for clinical education and Demo Dose® simulated medications. Headquartered in a new 128,000+ square foot green-certified corporate complex and state-of-the-art distribution center in Monaca, Pa., Pocket Nurse is committed to providing best-in-class instructional solutions—from essential standards to the latest in technological innovation—to meet and exceed the supply needs of the simulation laboratory and healthcare education industry. Pocket Nurse. Practice Perfect™. For more information, visit www.pocketnurse.com or call 1-800-225-1600.

About Omnicell

Since 1992, Omnicell (NASDAQ: OMCL) has been creating new efficiencies to improve patient care, anywhere it is delivered. Omnicell is a leading supplier of comprehensive automation and business analytics software for patient-centric medication and supply management across the entire health care continuum—from the acute care hospital setting to post-acute skilled nursing and long-term care facilities to the home.

More than 3,000 customers worldwide have utilized Omnicell Automation and Analytics solutions to increase operational efficiency, reduce errors, deliver actionable intelligence and improve patient safety. Omnicell Medication Adherence solutions, including its MTS Medication Technologies brand, provide innovative medication adherence packaging solutions to help reduce costly hospital readmissions. In addition, these solutions enable approximately 6,000 institutional and retail pharmacies worldwide to maintain high accuracy and quality standards in medication dispensing and administration while optimizing productivity and controlling costs.

For more information about Omnicell, Inc. please visit www.omnicell.com.

¹ Bultas, M. W., Hassler, M., Ercole, P. M., & Rea, G. (2014). Effectiveness of High-Fidelity Simulation for Pediatric Staff Nurse Education. Pediatric Nursing, 40(1), 27-32, 42. Accessed on http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-362061900.html

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Editor's Notes:

1. All Omnicell news releases (financial, acquisitions, products, technology etc.) are issued exclusively by PR Newswire and are immediately thereafter posted on the Company's external website, omnicell.com.
2. Omnicell, the Omnicell logo design, and OmniRx are registered trademarks of Omnicell, Inc.   AnywhereRN, and Savvy are trademarks of Omnicell, Inc.
3. All other brand or product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

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SOURCE Omnicell, Inc.