Omnicell Acquisition Prepares Students for the Future of Healthcare
For Immediate Release: December 8, 2008
Media Contact: Lesley Wheeler, Public Affairs, (562) 860-2751 ext. 7878
NORWALK, Calif. – December 8, 2008 – Cases of patients being given the wrong drugs, or too much of the right one, seem all too common in 
The introduction of Omnicell’s mobile cart solution and OmniRx Color Touch medication dispensing cart to Cerritos College will not only benefit the students that will be trained on them, but the patients they will help once they begin their careers.
Technology is changing the way hospitals administer medication to their patients and thanks to the acquisition of the Omnicell machines that were purchased using Perkins Vocational Act funds, Cerritos College pharmacy technology and nursing students will be ready to work in the ever-changing hospital environment.
“Our students will be well-prepared,” said Nick Kremer, Cerritos College executive dean of community, industry and technology education, about the impact the Omnicell machines will have on campus training. “It benefits both pharmacy technology and nursing students.”
The students will now graduate from their programs with hands-on experience using technology that many pharmacists and nurses currently employed in the field have never received.
“Cerritos College is taking a leadership role by training its students in the Pharmacy and Nursing Program on state-of-the-art automated medications systems from Omnicell,” said Randall Lipps, founder, chairman, president & CEO of Omnicell, Inc. “Using an Omnicell mobile cart solution at the bedside of a patient improves efficiency, reduces the risk of clinical errors, and enhances patient safety. When combined with our automated medication dispensing systems, nurses and pharmacists have the peace of mind of knowing that the right product is being moved throughout the medication-use process.”
The Omnicell mobile cart includes a wireless computer and eight drawers that are labeled for specific patients. Nurses use the cart to administer daily medicine to the patients by scanning the barcode on the drawer, the barcode on the drugs and the barcode on the patient’s 
Cerritos College is the first institution, including hospitals, to receive one of these carts. Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital, in Whittier, has already ordered 100 of these carts from Omnicell.
The OmniRx Color Touch system is used to secure drugs and turn what used to be a non-controlled situation into a controlled one. The drug transporter has a computer on top and many secured drawers that can only be opened by those with the authority to do so. The security of the drug depends on the type of drug. For instance, drugs such as Tylenol or Vicodin are less secure than drugs like Morphine or Demerol. The cart, which also has a computer attached to it, is filled by the pharmacy technicians and knows how many of which drug it has and who took what drugs out of it.
This will reduce the chance of drugs ending up on the streets or hospital staff giving the wrong drug or dose to a patient.
The new technology being introduced to the medical field is causing pharmacy technicians and nurses to work closer together, with their ultimate goal being patient safety. This is creating a more inter-disciplinary environment between the nursing and pharmacy technology programs at Cerritos College.
The pharmacy technology students at Cerritos College will use the machines to learn how to fill the dispenser carts with the proper drugs that have been prescribed to the patients. The student nurses will then take that dispenser, along with the mobile cart, to the patients and distribute the correct medicines to the patients using the security functions.
Cerritos College is the only college, besides a few schools of pharmacy, that have any of the Omnicell technology. This gives graduates from the Cerritos College nursing and pharmacy program a huge advantage when they enter their hospital careers.
“These machines have taken our pharmacy and nursing programs up, not a notch, but several notches,” said Hal Malkin, department chair of the pharmacy technology department at Cerritos College.
If you would like more information about the Cerritos College nursing or pharmacy programs please visit the health occupations Web site at http://www.cerritos.edu/health-occupations.
Cerritos College serves as a comprehensive community college for southeastern Los Angeles County. Communities within the college’s district include Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, Norwalk, and portions of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs and South Gate. Cerritos College offers degrees and certificates in more than 200 areas of study in nine divisions. Annually, more than 1,200 students successfully complete their course of studies, and enrollment currently surpasses 24,000 students. Visit Cerritos College online at www.cerritos.edu.
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