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Count on Pyxis for compliance, organization by Cindy Abole Public Relations At first glance, the refrigerator-sized units scattered around the hospital resemble typical vending machines. But the Medical Center’s new automatic supply machines are a step ahead in technology when it comes to providing staff and employees with a manageable automated inventory and supply management system. Use of the Pyxis supply system has been the newest rage in health care featuring an automated supply management system within hospitals and medical institutions across the country. Installed in 2003, MUSC’s system features 565 automated units organized in three areas throughout the main hospital, Charleston Memorial Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry. These single and double main units are stocked with medical supplies and items that support patient care areas. The system is being used to enhance the hospital’s inventory and supply system that’s a boon for accountability and compliance and a plus for cost effectiveness.  “What we wanted to create was an automated system that can have a product available to staff at any time of need,” said Gail Hale, business manager and Pyxis coordinator for Central Supply.  Driving these upgrades are a number of factors. Foremost is the ability to reduce cost containment. Secondly, the system improves accountability of inventory items and how things are tracked. Meeting compliance requirements helps minimize errors and waste. Its convenience and timeliness allow caregivers to focus more on patient care, according to Hale.  Central supply tech Madlyn Legare Smith stocks the Pyxis supply units in the ER. “Pyxis allows us to control the location and organization of an item,” Hale said. “It helps us recognize and pinpoint problems while training and educating our staff.” In the past, handling inventory and supplies within a unit or department was handled primarily by clinical and non-clinical staffs. It was a long and time consuming process that involved ordering, tracking and stocking medical supplies as they were needed. There was a lot of waste and problems with accountability. The Pyxis system has changed this allowing technology, training and support to help prevent discrepancies. A version of the Pyxis system was first introduced to MUSC in the Medical Center’s Pharmacy a few years ago. The automated medication system, Accudose, provides a safe method for scanning information and dispensing medication through the hospital’s pharmacy and patient units. For Pyxis, the SupplyStation is the key. This double-main unit is the size of a side-by-side refrigerator outfitted with well-lit shelves and drawers that close and lock for security. In addition to being tied with the hospitalwide Pyxis system, each station operates using its own computer system featuring a Windows NT operating system and Pyxis-designed software. Pyxis is a partner with Ohio-based medical supply and services giant Cardinal Health. The Pyxis supply systems are coordinated through control stations in the main hospital’s central supply, main OR and MUSC’s Heart and Vascular Center. Each area has coordinators that manage the system details and supplies for those areas. For example, Central Supply operates an inventory of about 1,500 coded items. Other area systems may stock some of the same items but may also include pieces that are specific to that area like the main OR’s supply of titanium screws, valves and implants used in medical procedures. “What has been great is the versatility this system offers us,” said John Holter, Pyxis manager for the main OR. “We’re able to run usage reports on what and how often items are used. The technological advances in this system are so defined. It comes to a matter of automatic versus manual processes.” Pyxis’ success is based on an inventory line item formula. Prior to installation, Hale involved an interdisciplinary group  of nurses and other staff to help design and coordinate everything from machine locations, stock items, supply organization, staff access, training, etc. Each unit is stocked once a day  and as needed on weekends by inventory technicians. For Central Supply, inventory receives stock from their ground floor facilities of the hospital.  A total of 17 technicians perform inventory stock counts on all units, 24/7.  “The system is as good as how our staffs are using it,” Hale said, of the 2,319 medical center users who can access the system. “We will continue to strive towards achieving a compliance rate of 95 percent by continuing to provide training and updates to nurse managers and our staff.” Users log into the system using their username and password. Using a touch-screen and keyboard, they can identify items by typing in the name of the item and quantity used as they pull or remove items. This “pull-and-hit” routine helps to account for items used in the machine’s inventory and to capture patient charges that’s integrated with the hospital’s billing system. Nurse managers are responsible for managing access into the system, training and specific unit issues or needs. “We've come a long way from the early days of manual logs to tracking and now automation,” Hale said. “We hope to stay on course by providing  improvements to the system and look forward to the opportunity of further enhancements in the supply area.”    Supply system provides 24/7 support When Pyxis representative Ross Cox came to MUSC six months ago, he was confident that his involvement in a culture shift of the hospital staff’s work processes would be more positive than negative. Change in any situation brings a little doubt and anxiety. Cox was involved in the installation of a Pyxis supply system at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, the largest installation of the inventory supply system within the region. He helped train and support nursing staffs to use Pyxis within their work areas.  Cox, who works for Cardinal Health and the parent company of Pyxis, is a liaison for the system as it  went online  in central supply, the main OR and the heart and vascular center. Pyxis provides 24/7 worldwide customer support including a toll-free hotline. A label on each Pyxis station in the hospital has his name, contact and pager number. Besides helping to maintain the system, Cox provides managers with key operational information from inventory turnover, inventory expiration schedules, user information and peak hours of usage. Just recently he helped install the latest Pyxis software that features item and patient search functions and the ability to printout a wide format report.  Each month, Cox joins Pyxis area managers, nurse managers and other staff at monthly system user group meetings to discuss system problems and provide a “think tank” approach to solve issues and provide improvements.        Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.