Greenville Health System Latest To Acquire RIVA State-Of The-Art Pharmacy Automation

RIVA to provide increased safety and productivity for South Carolina’s largest non-profit healthcare system

Intelligent Hospital Systems (IH Systems), maker of the RIVA fully-automated pharmacy IV compounding system, recently announced that Greenville Health System (GHS) has purchased two RIVA units. The state-of-the-art IV medication preparation systems are expected to be installed and in operation in 2014.

Greenville Health System is South Carolina’s largest not-for-profit healthcare system and is recognized for its commitment to medical excellence through clinical care, education and research. Over the last 100 years, the organization has evolved from a single free-standing hospital to a highly integrated delivery system and an academic medical center.

“Our health system pharmacy touches virtually every patient, and it is our responsibility to provide every medication dose with the utmost safety and accuracy,” said Mike Hanna, R.Ph., senior administrator, Greenville Memorial Medical Campus. “Greenville Health System is committed to best-in-class clinical service, research and academic instruction, and RIVA will ensure we also have best available technology in an area so critical to patient care and safety.”

RIVA is the only fully-automated IV compounding system on the market today and offers pharmacies numerous safety and efficiency benefits. The technology provides true walk-away capability, allowing for extended production runs with no staff intervention required. RIVA can process individual or batch doses in an ISO Class 5 environment with USP<797>-compliant beyond-use dating. In addition, the system lowers the cost-per-dose of medication and provides a complete electronic audit trail that identifies and labels every dispensed dose.

“RIVA sets a new standard for patient and medication safety by eliminating cross-contamination and the risk of human error,” said Dr. Niels Erik Hansen, president and CEO of IH Systems. “We expect participating hospital systems to experience significant cost savings through increased safety, productivity and efficiency in their pharmacy compounding processes.”

Since its introduction in 2008, RIVA systems globally have collectively prepared approximately 2 million doses safely and accurately. The system’s safety record has been demonstrated by more than 120,000 routine quality control checks at over 30 RIVA installations that have found no contamination in compounds produced by the systems.

About Intelligent Hospital Systems
Founded in 2006, Intelligent Hospital Systems (IH Systems) is a medical device company focused on the design and development of automated solutions for the hospital environment. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, IH Systems manufactures RIVA, a fully-automated IV compounding system that prepares medications for syringes and IV bags in an aseptic environment. Using RIVA, hospitals enhance patient safety, lower the cost-per-dose of medications, reduce their vulnerability to medication shortages and cut waste. For more information, visit http://www.intelligenthospitals.com/.

About Greenville Health System
Greenville Health System (GHS) — the largest not-for-profit healthcare delivery system in South Carolina — is committed to medical excellence through research, patient care and education. GHS offers patients an innovative network of clinical integration, expertise and technologies through its six medical campuses, tertiary medical center, research and education facilities, community hospitals, physician practices and numerous specialty services throughout the Upstate. The 1,358-bed system is home to 15 medical residency and fellowship programs and the state’s largest number of active clinical research trials — 670. In July 2012, GHS welcomed the charter class of its four-year medical school, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. For more information, visit www.ghs.org.