Danbury Hospital Implements Chemotherapy Safety System

DANBURY — Danbury Hospital announced recently that it had become the first hospital in the state to implement the IntelliDose clinical information system to automate the state-of-the-art cancer treatment at the Praxair Cancer Center.

The system benefits cancer patients and oncology clinicians by offering the latest technological advancement in chemotherapy treatment planning that combines enhanced safety features with efficient clinical solutions and effective workflow.

IntelliDose is an electronic chemotherapy physician order entry system that automates the clinical practice of oncology from the assignment of therapy to the calculation of chemotherapy doses to the documentation of care. IntrinsiQ Research, Inc, a worldwide leader in the production of chemotherapy administration technology, produces IntelliDose software.

The software provides Danbury Hospital oncology clinicians with a range of solutions that include the most up-to-date electronic patient information, dose calculation, error checking, nursing documentation, and physician order writing capability. The system is network compatible to the hospital’s existing technological environment thereby enabling access to authorized individuals at any networked computer, including those located on the Praxair Oncology Inpatient Unit.               

“We selected IntelliDose because the system demonstrates a variety of technological improvements that support our main objective to enhance patient safety while at the same time contributing to the efficiency of our cancer treatment capabilities in the delivery of chemotherapy to our patients,” said Dr John Pezzimenti, director of Cancer Medicine at the Praxair Cancer Center. “After evaluating a number of cancer specific electronic clinical systems, we chose IntelliDose because it combines ease of use with strong clinical applications specific to the practice of oncology.”

Intellidose software allows Danbury Hospital oncologists to order chemotherapy drugs using a computer planning system. The system stores hundreds of templates based treatment regimens that physicians personalize by utilizing its drop-down menus. This system ensures that all orders stay within defined safety parameters and flags potential problems, including the possibility for drug interactions.

The software also helps to increase staff efficiency by automating routine and repetitive tasks. Danbury Hospital oncology clinicians can access approved treatment plans and research protocols, calculate doses and check interactions all done in a couple of clicks. Creating a printed set of complete, accurate, and clear orders can be processed within seconds, thus eliminating the need to enter information in multiple locations. Patient information and data is secure because IntelliDose contains an array of data protection features that address the full range of needs for confidentiality and security that meets all of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines for the safety and security of patient information.

“The physician order entry system upgrade in cancer treatment technology demonstrates the commitment of the cancer center staff and Danbury Hospital to providing our community, who count on us, with the highest quality — and safest — cancer care,” said Patrice Hough, manager of the Praxair Cancer Center.