Knollwood Nursing Center Pioneers a New Era in Patient Care for Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts — Residents at Knollwood Nursing Center at Briarwood in Worcester, Massachusetts will be protected by extra measures that come with the Center’s contracting to receive medications from Millennium Pharmacy Systems, Inc. The new pharmacy provider will equip Knollwood with software and hardware to automate medication management and supply the facility with small-dose supplies of pharmaceuticals and an on-site automated dispensing system.

"We immediately saw how Millennium’s pharmacy model would improve our ability to provide additional safety measures and improve the quality of care we deliver," stated Michelle Malkoski, Director of Nursing at Knollwood. "It was the first time I had seen anything like it. The approach will help our nurses spend more time with the residents, help us ensure safe administration of medication, and control waste," she added.

Patricia Foley-Martel, Knollwood Administrator, quickly supported Ms. Malkoski’s interest. She stated, "The future is the electronic medical record, but we struggle to have all of our partners in the same place. Pharmacy is such an important part of what we do, if they aren’t innovating, we can’t move forward. Millennium was where we wanted to be."

Traditional pharmacy services in long-term care environments typically involve thirty-day supplies and a time-consuming manual process of managing medications which falls on the nursing staff. With Millennium, Knollwood will move to smaller supplies (3- and 4-day), reducing the waste of medications. In addition to the change in supply, Knollwood will implement the MPSRx proprietary software system using laptops attached to medication carts and eliminate paper medication and treatment records. This software will drive the tracking of medications, verify accurate administration, and deliver real-time reporting.

"We are very happy to add Knollwood to our portfolio of customers," said Millennium’s Kevin Dempster, Vice President of Sales. “They are a fantastic group that is committed to their residents and we’re glad to be able to help them deliver on their mission,” he added.

Knollwood will be the first Millennium customer site in the state. Millennium Pharmacy Systems, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, has invested in serving New England initially through a Smithfield, Rhode Island location which can reach Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and north eastern Connecticut. This location is one of six closed-door pharmacies it operates servicing facilities in six states plus the District of Columbia.

About Knollwood Nursing Center
Nestled in the wooded hills of West Boylston, Knollwood Nursing is part of the non-profit, nondenominational Briarwood Continuing Care Retirement Community. Knollwood provides comprehensive short and long-term nursing and rehabilitative care in a welcoming, respectful, patientfocused environment. Knollwood Nursing Center opened in January 2002, and the features and functions of the 82-bed nursing center are extensive and offer a state-of-the-art healthcare environment. More importantly, the highly skilled and dedicated staff at Knollwood focuses on providing each and every patient with a personal environment of care that fosters swift and successful recovery.

About Millennium Pharmacy Systems
Millennium Pharmacy Systems is a pharmacy services provider to the long-term care industry. Offering a new approach to pharmacy services, Millennium delivers on the promise of "the right drug, for the right patient, at the right time, for the right price” so its customers can deliver the best patient care while reducing costs, and more easily meeting compliance demands. Only Millennium combines Just-In-Time Dispensing with electronic medication and treatment ordering, administration, documentation, and reporting. Millennium backs up this commitment with delivery timeliness and medication accuracy customer guarantees. Millennium is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Please visit www.mpsrx.com for more information.