Ballad Health expands patient safety with new robotic pharmacy technology

Ballad Health is continuing its investment in safer care and improved access to medications with the addition of three Omnicell IVX Station compounding robots to its Central Fill Pharmacy located at Bristol Regional Medical Center.

The new IVX Station robots – affectionately named Hank, Willie and Reba – build on the success of Ballad Health’s three Omnicell XR2 Central Fill Pharmacy Dispensing robots, Dolly, Johnny and June, which were introduced in early 2024. Together, these systems represent significant advancements in medication accuracy, patient safety and timely access, allowing the organization to safely dispense and prepare tens of millions of doses for patients across its hospitals.

“Accuracy improves safety, and we’ve experienced zero medication picking errors with the XR2 robots while dispensing nearly nine million doses to date,” said Dr. Trish Tanner, chief pharmacy officer at Ballad Health. “Now, patients in urgent situations such as the operating room will receive medications faster, with the IVX Station robots pre-filling syringes, helping to improve both safety and speed of care. By expanding automation into IV compounding, we’re further improving accuracy, reducing risk and strengthening our commitment to patients.”

The IVX robots are designed to:

• Ensure reliability and stability in IV preparation
• Reduce the risk of contamination and dosing errors
• Free pharmacists and technicians from repetitive manual compounding tasks
• Provide full traceability for every dose prepared

“Just as our original Omnicell robots – named Dolly, Johnny and June to honor Bristol as the Birthplace of Country Music – helped our teams spend less time on manual dispensing and more time with patients, these new IVX Station robots extend that benefit into IV compounding,” said Marvin Eichorn, chief administrative officer for Ballad Health. “This innovative solution not only improves the reliability of doses at the bedside, but also allows our pharmacists to intervene earlier, helping patients access the right medications more quickly while supporting the highest levels of safety.”

“IV compounding is one of the most critical areas for accuracy and safety,” said Randall Lipps, chairman, president, CEO and founder of Omnicell. “By expanding our partnership with Ballad Health, we’re demonstrating how people and technology can come together to deliver a safer, more accurate sterile compounding process, helping to deliver the best care possible.”

With this expansion, Ballad Health becomes one of the few health systems in the nation to combine both central dispensing and IV compounding robotics within a centralized pharmacy hub, further positioning the organization as a leader in expanding patient access and advancing pharmacy safety.

“By embracing innovative solutions like the IVX robots, Ballad Health is charting the path as a leader in rural health innovation – delivering faster, safer and more reliable access to medications for every patient who walks through our doors,” Tanner said.