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.
Month: May 2010
Cool Technology for Pharmacy – QR Codes
Last night I was reading through some tweets and ran across this one from @ahier. Of course this led me to the referenced article on Microsoft Tags. It was a very interesting article, but for reasons I can’t explain I started thinking about a conversation I had with some people at the unSUMMIT regarding the use of QR Codes. And like all people with a short attention span I fired up Google and started searching for information on QR Codes. Fascinating stuff.
What’s the value of a healthcare conference?
First things first, a little back ground is in order. Most people probably don’t realize that hospital pharmacists aren’t allowed out much. This is especially true when it comes to sending pharmacists to conferences. It’s expensive and often creates a hole in the work schedule. In my experience the general rule of thumb is that hospitals will pay for a pharmacist to attend one out of state conference every other year. The nearly universal exception has been when a pharmacist is presenting a poster or giving a formal presentation, and then most facilities are willing to spring for the pharmacist to attend.
Motion Computing updates their tablet PC lineup
I received an email from Motion Computing today informing me that the company has updated their C5 and F5 line of tablet PCs; now know as the Motion C5v MCA and F5v Mobile Field Tool.
Upgrades include availability of the Intel Core i7 or Core i5 vPro Processors along with new levels of power and security. The big ticket items that caught my attention were the reported 50% performance improvement, hot-swappable batteries with 30% longer life, availability of a solid-state hard drive and the use of Gorilla glass as the standard display. C’mon, anything with “Gorilla†attached to it has to be cool.
Hey, anyone seen a unit-dose around here?
When you ask a pharmacist what a unit-dose is you may get a funny look. Actually, you will get a funny look. I know because I asked one of the pharmacists I work with that very question today and she gave me a look that could only be described as a cross between concern and pity. She thought the answer to my question was obvious and who could blame her.
Tougher mobile technology – laptops and tablet PCs
I’m a relatively inexperienced traveler. I’ve only flown approximately tens times in my entire life, and most of those have been in the past 18 months. It’s been great, however I always find it difficult to decide what mobile devices to carry with me. I always carry my DROID and iPhone, but can never seem to pick between laptop, tablet PC or both. Yes I’ve thought about the iPad, but I really need a physical keyboard and more robust applications for what I do. My needs may change in the future, but for now that’s my take on the issue.
More thoughts on standardization
I’ve mentioned this before several times on this blog, but feel like I have to say it yet again; we need to start standardizing certain things about health information technology. The lack of standardization reared its ugly head at me again last week when our Pyxis med stations kept dropping medications off of patient’s active profiles. It appeared to always be the same drug, IV ketorolac. It took me a while to figure out the problem, but it turns out that Pyxis and our pharmacy system don’t agree on certain basic elements of time. Go figure.
What’s wrong with this picture, err, I mean with these words?
I was reading an article in the most recent issue of Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare and I ran accross the paragraph below. I had to chuckle to myself. Would this be the definition of irony? Feel free to comment on what you think is wrong with this paragraph. Don’t look too hard because it … Read more
Interesting similarity, don’t you think?
I finally got around to digging into the article on bar code medication administration (BCMA) in the most recent issue of the NEJM. It’s and interesting article that has already receiving a lot of press. It will probably be tossed around for months. One thing I found amusing in the article was figure 1 on … Read more
Update from day two at the unSUMMIT
Today was the first full day of unSUMMIT activity and I found myself picking up quite a bit of useful information. I didn’t attend every session, but managed to make the most of the ones I did. Even though the conference is billed as bedside barcoding I found that many of the presentations went beyond barcoding to include clinical decision support, techniques for education, troubleshooting tips and tips on how to best create a multi-disciplinary team for project planning and implementation.Â