CERNER UNVEILS MEDICAL VENDING MACHINE AT TRADE SHOW

Cerner will debut today the first line of "connected" medical devices designed to integrate medical records and drug dispensing equipment. Designed to help eliminate medication errors that result in thousands of hospitals deaths each year, the CareAware RxStation is a large robotic drug dispenser designed for hospitals to help revolutionize the medication process and will serve vital in the need for transferable data between a patient's electronic medical record and clinical treatment.

Automated dispensing machines and their supporting systems will link with the Cerner Millennium software, connecting information from patient's medical history directly with the clinician and the pharmacy. The technology was released during the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference in San Diego.

According to the Institute of Medicine, preventable medication errors result in more than 7,000 deaths annually in hospitals, with medication errors occurring in 20 percent of doses administered.