The expanded agreement strengthens both companies’ ability to continue to bring innovative technologies to market, designed to enhance interoperability between Hospira’s smart intravenous (I.V.) infusion devices and Cerner’s CareAware solutions to meet the evolving needs of healthcare organizations.
Cerner’s CareAware technology is supplier-neutral and enables interoperability among medical devices, healthcare applications and electronic medical record (EMR) platforms. With Cerner’s CareAware programming, Hospira will connect its infusion pumps to the EMR at the point of care and add functionality for devices connecting to CareAware.
"Hospira is proud to extend our relationship with Cerner to deliver the enhanced interoperability between smart I.V. pumps and EMRs that our customers seek," said Cynthia Ansari, vice president, U.S. Marketing and Software, Medical Devices, Hospira.
"Together, we will innovate to enable our products to integrate in new and even more effective ways. This relationship builds on a longstanding foundation of collaboration between our companies with a shared goal of supporting healthcare organizations and caregivers in delivering the best possible care."
The new agreement focuses on broadening interoperability among Hospira’s portfolio of smart infusion pumps with Hospira MedNet safety software and Cerner’s Millennium healthcare information technology (IT) platform.
Among other capabilities, I.V.-EMR interoperability enables electronic association of patient, device and medication. Cerner CareAware iBus technology permits infusion pumps to be automatically programmed with pharmacy validated medication orders from the EMR, and infusion therapy data from the pump to be automatically documented in the EMR.
"Cerner’s CareAware is a powerful tool for creating a connected healthcare experience, regardless of a provider’s many technology partners," said Bryce Turnbull, vice president of Cerner DeviceWorks.
"Through our work with Hospira, Cerner is helping provide caregivers the patient data they need to make more informed care decisions, which lead to better patient outcomes."
Hospira and Cerner first collaborated in 2003 to develop infusion pump and EMR integration technology, also known as I.V.-EMR interoperability. Hospira has since deployed I.V.-EMR interoperability at more hospitals than any other smart pump vendor.
