McKesson and UCDHSC SON Partner to Promote Use of Technology by Nursing Professionals

[mccullaw]

McKesson and University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center School of Nursing Partner to Promote Use of Technology by Nursing Professionals Focus includes Patient Safety, Evidence-based Practice and Consumer Outreach

ATLANTA, March 1, 2005 - As part of their joint commitment to advance the field of nursing informatics amid national nursing shortages, McKesson and the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) School of Nursing in Denver have entered into a strategic relationship to study how technology can be used to promote patient safety, support evidence-based practices in rural settings, and help consumers make better healthcare decisions. UCDHSC is located near one of McKesson’s leading clinical software development centers, and nursing students in training at the University of Colorado Hospital have used McKesson’s clinical solutions there for many years.

"One of the most important factors in alleviating the national nursing shortage will be the increasing intersection of clinical information technology with patient care," said Patricia Moritz, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N., dean of UCDHSC’s School of Nursing, citing a finding from the Commission on the Workforce of the American Academy of Nursing, on which she serves. "As care managers, nurses must have real-time communication with all other departments that influence patient care. This collaboration is designed to ensure that the evolution of nursing informatics supports such requirements."
Through the agreement, the two organizations will conduct joint research and technology evaluation, promote job opportunities in nursing informatics and disseminate knowledge through publications and conferences. Specific projects include McKesson internships for UCDHSC students, guest lectures by McKesson informaticists at the UCDHSC School of Nursing, guided research reports and grant proposal submissions. UCDHSC faculty and students will also provide input on usability, workflow and direction for McKesson’s nursing-related applications. They include Horizon Expert Documentation™, which streamlines documentation and reduces charting time, allowing nurses to spend more time on direct patient care; and Horizon Admin-Rx™, an industry-leading, advanced point-of-care system that incorporates bar-code scanning at the bedside for preventing errors in medication administration.

"It is clear that nurses must be directly involved in the planning, design and testing of clinical technology," said Moritz. "Recently the University of Colorado Hospital completed a new campus in Fitzsimons. By including nurses, other clinicians, patients and community representatives in the planning and design phases, we were able to build a patient-centric facility that is truly a healing environment."

UCDHSC’s emphasis on caring medical treatment will also help McKesson define the appropriate balance between touch and technology in its development efforts.

"Nurses consistently champion the patient perspective and can directly drive safety and clinical outcome initiatives," said Billie Waldo, M.S., R.N., B.C., McKesson’s vice president and general manager of care management solutions. "This partnership will help advance the use of technology to support these initiatives within the context of a high-touch, nurse-patient relationship."

About University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center
The University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center is one of three campuses in the University of Colorado system. Located in Denver and Aurora, Colo., the center includes schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry, a graduate school and a teaching hospital. For more information, visit the Web site at www.uchsc.edu.

About the CU School of Nursing
Celebrating its centennial in 1998, the UCDHSC School of Nursing has a rich history of innovation and shaping milestones in the nursing profession. Ranked by the 2004 U.S. News & World Report as among the best graduate programs in the country, it is one of the leading nursing schools in the nation.

About McKesson
McKesson Corporation is a Fortune 16 healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes and improving the quality and safety of patient care. Over the course of its 170-year history, McKesson has grown by providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit us at www.mckesson.com.

To find out more about Health Care Informatics at UCDHSC check out our web site: http://www.uchsc.edu/nursing/informatics. You can also call or email Wendy McCullar at 303-315-2428 or wendy.mccullar@uchsc.edu.