BD Innovates webinar series debuts

BD recently kicked off its inaugural BD Innovates webinar series with Spotlight on Pharmacy Automation.

The session was moderated by Francesca DeMartino, senior vice president of investor relations, and featured Puneet Sarin, worldwide president of medication management solutions at BD, and Jason Strohm, worldwide vice president/GM of pharmacy automation.

Noting that last year, BD acquired Parata Systems, DeMartino said, "Our pharmacy automation business is growing in the mid teens." 

DeMartino asked Sarin to discuss the company's medication management solutions' vision.

Sarin pointed out that the vision is to make medication management safer, simpler and smarter so that providers can provide focus on what matters most, which is patient care. "We focus on meeting the biggest challenges and priorities our customers are facing today."

The first of three challenges that Sarin cited is addressing ongoing labor shortages, "from employees leaving hospitals to baby boomers retiring to fewer new workers entering the field, the industry at large is seeing shortages all the way from pharmacy techs to bedside nurses. That’s where our industrious solutions with pharmacy automation can help reduce costs and make it simpler for pharmacists to attend to their patients."

[Read more: BD to acquire Parata Systems]

The second challenge is that customers are facing is the cost of medication errors. With the United States spending more 40 billion each year on patients who have been affected by medication errors, Sarin said,  "The other brutal reality we see is that accidents happen. Preventable errors occur. In the United States alone ,between 7,000 and 9,000 Americans die evert year because of med errors. The good news is that with our dispensing portfolio we’re working with caregivers from hospitals, clinics and now pharmacies in finding a better way to package, deliver and administer medications, making it safer to store and administer medicines."

The third biggest challenge Sarin identified is improving patient outcomes and quality of care.  "Imagine a loved one receiving chemo. The drugs must be delivered in a controlled way into the blood stream in small volumes and the care providers lack the confidence around precision. That’s where our connected solutions can provide smart solutions with analytics to improve patient care."

Noting that MMS is addressing the industry’s problems around cost, quality and access to better health care, Sarin said, "When you think about the metrics, we are the embodiment of this industry. Our solutions utilize best in class technology through every stage of medication management."

[Read more: Parata acquires Synergy Medical]

Sarin said that BD's MMS is highly aligned with the BD 2025 strategy of grow and simplify. "Regarding the growth, our existing leadership in dispensing and infusion positions, are incredibly well in pharmacy automation," he said. "We have the leadership and capabilities to tackle the challenges our customers are currently facing in the health care environment."

Sarin added, "Having all these products under one umbrella in MMS is a key differentiator. Given the breath and depth of our portfolio we really have the opportunity to deliver on a vision of improving medication management across the full care continuum. It’s incumbent upon us to maintain this category leadership position in the markets we play in. We have a great growth story to tell and you’ll see that specifically within pharmacy automation today."

In terms of BD's simplify strategy, Sarin said, "We are highly focused on simplification and embracing the customer experience in ease of doing business. As we evolve MMS more broadly towards digitization and connectivity we must evolve our services strategy and we see this as a key opportunity. Overall in MMS, we can meet the most critical needs of our customers in today’s environment by addressing the labor shortages in the industry, improving outcomes and medication safety by really helping providers ensure that the right drug gets delivered to the right patient at the right time and that’s our promise."

Sarin also discussed how pharmacy automation fit into the strategy, "We believe our vison to make medication management safer, simpler and smarter extends beyond the hospital and that's where pharmacy automation comes into place. Historically our work was mostly concentrated in the hospital segment with pharmacy automation. We're now able to expand our impact way beyond the hospital market, across all area settings, including retail, long term care, ambulatory surgery centers as a few examples."

To view the full webinar, visit here.