LAKE FOREST, Ill., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hospira, Inc. (NYSE: HSP), a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company, and St. Clair Health Corporation, today announced that Hospira has acquired Sculptor Developmental Technologies, a subsidiary of St. Clair Health Corporation. Sculptor is a leading software engineering company formed by St. Clair Hospital in 1993 to advance the use of technology to improve patient care. As part of a related arrangement, St. Clair Hospital will serve as a development and test site for Hospira medication management products.
"Acquiring Sculptor expands Hospira's ability to offer device and software solutions that enhance safety and productivity," said Chris Kolber, president, Global Devices, Hospira. "Their approach to developing products designed by clinicians, for clinicians, results in high adoption rates and an immediate impact to patient safety and clinician efficiency."
Sculptor developed VeriScan Rx, a software application that supports bar code medication administration at the point of care. It is designed to streamline the medication administration process to enhance patient safety and clinician workflow.
According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), medication errors impact 1.5 million people in the United States per year. Bar code enabled systems are becoming increasingly important to addressing medication errors by verifying the "five rights" of medication administration: right medication, right dose, right patient, right time and right route of administration.
"This acquisition brings together two leaders in healthcare IT -- Hospira has led the industry in barcoding medications and infusion technology; and St. Clair, through Sculptor, was the first hospital in the country to combine barcoding and RFID in a single mobile device for the real-time workflow needs of clinical staff," said Richard Schaeffer, vice president and chief information officer, St. Clair Hospital.
The acquisition of Sculptor supports Hospira's approach of interfacing its products with other technologies to meet the evolving needs of hospitals. Hospira currently partners with several leading hospital information system providers to establish communications between their applications and its own. These companies include Cerner Corp., McKesson Corporation and Siemens Medical Solutions.
Financial details of the Sculptor agreement were not disclosed.
About Sculptor Developmental Technologies, Inc.
Sculptor Developmental Technologies, Inc. was established in 1993 as a software engineering company dedicated to providing software solutions for healthcare. With the advent of VeriScan in 2003, Sculptor remains focused on bedside patient safety initiatives. Currently there are more than 125 hospitals in the United States, Canada and Europe using Sculptor's applications.
About St. Clair Hospital
St. Clair Hospital is a leading acute care hospital serving the approximately 400,000 residents of the South Hills of Pittsburgh with a comprehensive array of inpatient and outpatient services. The Hospital regularly receives state and national recognition for clinical excellence, patient safety, and information technology, including the 2007 Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence from VHA, and distinction as a best practice facility from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) for medication reconciliation. St. Clair is among Pennsylvania's highest achieving hospitals in patient safety initiatives and clinical best practices, and is the only Pittsburgh-area hospital to be named one of the 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania for six consecutive years.
About Hospira
Hospira, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medication delivery company dedicated to Advancing Wellness(TM). As the world leader in specialty generic injectable pharmaceuticals, Hospira offers one of the broadest portfolios of generic acute-care and oncology injectables, as well as integrated infusion therapy and medication management solutions. Through its products, Hospira helps improve the safety, cost and productivity of patient care. The company is headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., and has more than 14,000 employees. Learn more at www.hospira.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Hospira cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect Hospira's operations and may cause actual results to be materially different from expectations include the risks and uncertainties set forth under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Hospira's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is incorporated by reference. Hospira undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as the result of subsequent events or developments.
SOURCE Hospira, Inc.
