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The impact of COVID-19 on Pharmacy Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

By Jerry Fahrni on March 22, 2020

COVID-19 has taught us many things, among them that our healthcare supply chain is poorly designed and flimsy. Just a few weeks into the pandemic and our supply chain for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been completely disrupted. PPE is now in short supply, and I suspect that we will run out of PPE in […]

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Pharmacy Integration is Starting to Make Sense

By Jerry Fahrni on March 15, 2020

I’ve been writing about the need for pharmacy integration for years. Most of it negative, and deservedly so because it’s been lousy. With that said, things appear to have changed in recent years. Integration, it seems, has slowly become a thing. Maybe because I’ve been out of general pharmacy practice for so long that it […]

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Today’s sterile compounding climate is a lesson on availability cascades

By Jerry Fahrni on July 13, 2019

I’ve been slowly reading ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’, a best-selling book by Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winning psychologist and economist known for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making.  The book summarizes behavioral science research conducted by Kahneman. The recurring theme of the book is what the author defines as two modes […]

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Chapter 8: First things first

By Jerry Fahrni on March 30, 2019

Several years ago, shortly after I was let go from Talyst, I found myself with some free time on my hands. I started writing a book. The book was titled ‘Making the right choice: Helping pharmacies make smart decisions about automation and technology’. Like many books I’ve started, it remains unfinished. I don’t think I’ve […]

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Disruptive technologies in pharmacy, reality or myth?

By Jerry Fahrni on December 23, 2018

There was an interesting thread in one of the ASHP practice forums recently. Someone asked whether or not pharmacists were “ready for the future that the opportunities these disruptive technologies offer”. This in reference to technologies that they saw in the exhibit hall at ASHP Midyear. The simple answer is no. Pharmacists are barely ready […]

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ASHP Midyear 2018: Initial Thoughts

By Jerry Fahrni on December 16, 2018

I recently returned from the 2018 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting, i.e. “Midyear” in Anaheim, CA. This year was a bit different for me as it was the first time in many years that I attended the meeting as a regular pharmacist, i.e. not tied to a pharmacy automation company as an employee or as a […]

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Building a sterile compounding space in California – Regulatory Hurdles

By Jerry Fahrni on August 12, 2018

For almost a year, I’ve been working as a ‘Pharmacy Project Manager’ on a large healthcare system project to bring all their pharmacy sterile compounding spaces — a.k.a. Cleanrooms, SCA’s, C-SCA’s, etc. — into compliance with USP General Chapters <797> and <800>. Some areas have been remodeled while others have simply been scrapped in favor […]

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Cool pharmacy cleanroom tech: Altro Whiterock

By Jerry Fahrni on August 5, 2018

I’m sure you’re all familiar with USP <797> requirements for ceilings, wall, and floors in a pharmacy cleanroom, a.k.a. IV room. According to the current chapter: The surfaces of ceilings, walls, floors, fixtures, shelving, counters, and cabinets in the buffer area shall be smooth, impervious, free from cracks and crevices, and nonshedding, thereby promoting cleanability and […]

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Mobile compounding units, a.k.a. sterile compounding trailers

By Jerry Fahrni on July 28, 2018

Construction on pharmacy cleanrooms is at an all-time high in California. Every hospital I know is either renovating a sterile compounding area —  cleanroom or SCA — or building a new one. Why? Because of USP General Chapter <800>, of course. Never have I seen so little cost so much. That little 19-page document has […]

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Robots in the IV room, still not ready for prime time

By Jerry Fahrni on July 22, 2018

I love pharmacy IV room workflow and technology, but I don’t get to talk about it much anymore. Most of my conversations these days are focused on IV room regulation, i.e. compliance with USP <797>/<800> and Board of Pharmacy rules. So you can imagine my surprise when two people approached me on two completely different […]

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