Year: 2010

Year end thoughts for 2010

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2010 brought many new and exciting changes not only in my personal life, but in the world of pharmacy and technology as well. I’ve learned many new things, gained some new skills, made some new friends, explored the world of social media more deeply, traveled more than ever before and discovered that I once again know nothing. I am more excited about next year than I ever thought possible.

Below is a list of opinions I’ve gathered over the past 12 months. Some are pharmacy related, some are technology related, some are personal, and some are just random thoughts.

And here we go…

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Chrome OS for healthcare? At least someone thinks so

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Medgadget: “Yet on the whole, playing with the CR-48 is like peeking into the future – the far, far away future. And though it’s hard to fill in all the details now, there’s a lot of potential for Chrome OS in the world of medicine.” – The author does a great job of covering why the Chrome OS, and a CR-48 like device, would be good for healthcare. Reasons include disposability in which “the ultimate machine for the medical world is the one in which the doctor, nurse, patient, etc, cares the least about if it’s dropped, lost, or broken”; interchangeability by allowing any user to simply log into any CR-48 and have their information instantly available; security; and hardware customizability. It’s a refreshing change to see someone thinking outside the box when it comes to computing in healthcare.

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Pharmacy goals, a reality check and insanity – what the heck are we doing?

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I’ve been conversing with several pharmacists about the future of pharmacy practice, specifically about the PPMI developed earlier this year by ASHP. This is a sharp group of people, but what I continually hear is the same thing I’ve heard for a number of years. While I’m not as experienced as many of my esteemed colleagues due to a late start to my career, I have worked in several acute care facilities. I’m not sure who said it, but Einstein gets credit for defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The literature presented in support of a new practice model is, in reality, based on current practice. It’s all looking at how best to apply the pharmacist’s current knowledge and resources to the current practice model. Economic outcomes improved by a pharmacist; great, but not new. Improved patient outcomes with a pharmacist in a team approach; awesome, but not new. Use a pharmacist as a prescriber; cool idea, but not new. These models are easily ten years old and we’re still talking about them as if they were new ideas. See a trend here? I think this is exactly what Einstein had in mind when he defined insanity.

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Merry Christmas 2010

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And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch of their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great … Read more

Google body browser is pretty cool

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If you haven’t heard of the Google body browser, then you’re really missing out. Google body browser is an incredible in-browser 3D rendering of the human body. It offers individual anatomic layers of the skin, muscles, bones, vascular system, nervous system and organ system. The various layers can be selected or deselected as desired while … Read more

The state of mHealth – a survey from research2guidance

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Over the summer I participated in research2guidance‘s online mobile health developers‘ survey. In total there were 231 participating companies ranging from start-up mHealth specialists to traditional healthcare market players. Basically the survey reveals that smartphothes, i.e. mobile devices, will have a significant impact on healthcare over the next few years. I don’t think anyone is … Read more

Most read blog posts from last week (50)

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Here’s a list of the top ten most read blog posts on this site from last week: First Impressions – Lenovo X201 Tablet PC Moving storage around in the “cloud” Cool Technology (September 19, 2009 – Capsule Machine) Best iPhone / iPod Touch Applications for Pharmacists Medscape Mobile for Android on its way Integration of … Read more

The Johns Hopkins ABX Guide now available for Android, let the party begin

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I received an email recently notifying me of the availability of The Johns Hopkins ABX Guide for the Android OS. I remember using the Hopkins ABX guide on my Palm Pilot many years ago. The website has always been a great source of information and having it in a mobile platform is great, especially for … Read more

Don’t dismiss the potential of Chrome OS just yet

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The Cr-48 is Google’s first notebook sporting their Chrome OS. While the hardware is nice, it’s really the operating system and the concept that’s raising eyebrows and generating interest. The operating system is designed to make optimal use of “the web”. The features of Chrome OS include instant on, fast load times, cloud storage and recover, etc. A full list of features can be found at the Google Chrome OS website.

I’ve read several reviews of the Cr-48 and for the most part users haven’t been all that impressed. The reviews interest me because I don’t believe the people using these machines get it. First and foremost, the Cr-48 is clearly a work in progress as is Chrome OS. Second, the idea of an internet based, fully cloud enabled system is ideal for creating a hardware agnostic future. It appears to me that Google is testing the waters and collecting data for a future run at something bigger. Do you really doubt Google will continue to develop a better cloud concept for an operating system? It would be a mistake to do so.

I remember similar thoughts from the so called experts when the Android OS rolled out, and now it’s slowly becoming the most prominent operating system for mobile devices. I don’t see that changing anytime in the near future.

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“What’d I miss?” – The week of December 12, 2010

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It’s been a good week in the world of non-pharmacy. ASHP Midyear 2010 is behind us, but the work generated from that meeting has just begun. And as usual there were a lot of things that happened during the week, and not all of it was pharmacy or technology related. Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found interesting.

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