Hospital Goes High Tech To Protect Drug Supply

A local hospital has taken their drug protection high-tech. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Rockwall is using the Pyxis MedStation. The machine knows where every addicting narcotic in the hospital is going and who is using it.

Health care professionals must enter a password, scan their fingerprint and answer a series of questions before the machine will release the drugs.

Chief Anesthesiologist Marc Brown says drug theft in hospitals continues to rise, so this is their way of trying to stop it.

"There have been people who try to get narcotics probably since the time narcotics were introduced. And as you know they're very addicting, and we don't want it to fall in the wrong hands whether it's a patient, a family member or even a healthcare professional," said Brown.

Brown isn’t just concerned about the common narcotics like Hydrocodone and Morphine; he says theft of the sedative Propofol is also on the rise after Michael Jackson’s death.

"There probably will be legislation sometime later this year that will mandate that Propofol be kept in something secure like the Pyxis machine we have here," he said.

We did some research and found that Texas Health is one of several hospitals in North Texas using the Pyxis system. Both Parkland and UT Southwestern are also using the machines.

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