Omnicell has introduced XT Series, the new generation of medication and supply automation that is fully integrated on the Company's Unity enterprise platform.

The XT Series includes automated medication and supply dispensing cabinets, the Anesthesia Workstation, and Controlled Substance Manager.

XT Automated Medication Cabinets are also fully integrated with Connect-Rx® from Aesynt, so customers in the U.S. who use AcuDose-Rx® cabinets can take advantage of the new hardware without changing their software or server infrastructure.

Omnicell XT Automated Dispensing Cabinets were designed with modern new hardware technology and smart features that bring improvements in workflow efficiency, medication accountability and patient safety.

Offering a high degree of flexibility, the XT system can easily expand and scale as healthcare systems grow. It is also readily adaptable to future innovations.

Over the past two decades, Omnicell has consistently improved the software used for its automated medication and supply dispensing systems and provided annual software upgrades that enhance workflow and regulatory compliance.

In order to continue offering this level of innovation and to take advantage of emerging technologies, Omnicell developed a new hardware and electronics architecture for the XT Series.

The new design enables more medications to be stocked within the same footprint—the XT cabinets offer 50 percent more capacity compared with similar units on the market. The new cabinets were designed using a rigorous testing program, and have been evaluated by over 800 users across the country.

"The new XT Series benefits us both on the nursing and pharmacy sides. The screen response time is much faster than the previous generation cabinets, which allows us to give time back to the staff for patient care," said Dr. John Rossi, director of pharmacy, Mount Nittany Health System, a long-standing Omnicell customer.

"In addition, the increased capacity allows us to fit 30 percent to 40 percent more medications into the same space. I'm very encouraged by not only the XT line of products, but Omnicell's drive to improve our work life."

As healthcare facilities across the country struggle to maintain excellent care without increasing costs, they seek functional solutions that simplify clinical workflows and allow providers to focus on their patients.

To address these needs, the XT Automated Dispensing Cabinet is designed to eliminate non-value-added steps and increase medication safety.

With the introduction of the XT Series, Omnicell now offers the new Controlled Substance Dispenser—a completely reengineered unit dose dispensing system that provides even greater accuracy and efficiency.

In addition to the increased capacity, XT cabinets include new drawer designs that accommodate nearly all medication dosage forms and enable healthcare facilities to optimize inventory, minimize stockouts and reduce missing doses, all of which impact patient care and take time away from clinical staff.

 In addition to more configurable open drawers, a new array of metal locking lid drawers—including the largest locked bin in the industry—is available to keep medications secure and help prevent drug diversion.

Omnicell's popular LED Guiding Lights, which direct users to the proper drawer and bin location for safe and efficient medication removal, are now six times brighter than previous models and are easily visible in virtually any clinical environment.

The new hardware technology enables healthcare facilities to more easily adapt the XT cabinet as needs grow or medication strategies change, so they are not locked into a specific configuration. For example, drawers can be added or changed on-site, and the Controlled Substance Dispenser can also be added to an existing XT cabinet.

To allow greater freedom to place cabinet accessories where they work best for workflow and facility layout, the XT cabinets include a wireless version of the External Return Bin and the FlexLock Refrigerator Lock and Temperature Monitor. The new wireless option uses customized Bluetooth® peer-to-peer technology to ensure secure and reliable communication.

For legacy Aesynt customers in the U.S. who have AcuDose-Rx cabinets, Omnicell is extending the value of their investment by making the XT cabinets compatible with AcuDose-Rx, enabling a mixed environment.

These customers can incrementally add XT cabinets—which will run on the same Connect-Rx software platform as their AcuDose-Rx cabinets—allowing them to benefit from unique XT features such as Guiding Lights, increased capacity and greater configurability.

Nurses who have used the new XT Automated Dispensing Cabinets appreciate the larger screen that is more responsive to touch, similar to modern smart phones.

They have also been impressed with the speed of the system, which uses Microsoft® Windows® 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB with BitLocker Drive Encryption and updated Intel technology to enhance responsiveness as well as reliability and security.

In addition to new automated medication and supply dispensing cabinets, the XT Series includes:

With the greater capacity of the XT cabinets, this system provides greater narcotic storage in a small footprint and includes advanced fingerprint bioID to help reduce the risk of diversion in the pharmacy.

This system for balancing the instant access anesthesia providers want with medication security the pharmacy needs, now includes the benefits of Windows 10.

All XT Series products are part of the integrated Unity enterprise platform in which automation used in the central pharmacy, operating room and nursing units share a common database and are supported by enterprise analytics solutions.

This reduces formulary maintenance and IT infrastructure, increases data accuracy, and reduces redundant database management, giving pharmacy staff more time to focus on patient care.

The XT Automated Dispensing Cabinets are backward compatible with legacy Omnicell cabinets and include the same level of interoperability with key electronic health records (EHR).

They also work with other unique Omnicell solutions such as Anywhere RN™, which enables nurses to manage medications away from the cabinet, and SinglePointe™, a system for better managing patient-specific medications.

"We are extremely excited to present the XT Series to the market. These products were created to address our customers' needs for improved safety and functionality, which will enable clinicians to provide better patient care," said Kim Howland, vice president of Product Design, Omnicell.