Forni A, Chu HT. Technology Utilization to Prevent Medication Errors. Curr Drug Saf. 2009 Oct 7 [ePub]
This is a nice review article explores current technologies available to healthcare and what role they play in the reduction of medication errors. The article provides a short review of literature to support each technology reviewed. Technologies covered include: Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS), Patient Monitoring: Electronic Surveillance, Reminders, and Alerts, Telemedicine, Bar Code Medication Verification (BMV), a.k.a. Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA), Smart Infusion Pumps, and electronic medication administration record (eMAR).
The article concludes with:
The implementation of health information technology can result in a reduction in ADEs and can impact the quality of patient care. Systems integration and compliance are vital in achieving a safe medication use process. Hospitals that have extensive computerized technology and have greater automation tend to have better patient outcomes, including fewer complications, reduced inpatient mortality and lower hospital costs. Regulatory agencies and payers are now using performance standards and financial incentives to force practices changes. This may increase the speed and likelihood of technology implementation. While many providers may dismiss technology as being beyond their scope of practice or responsibility, both practitioners and patients should be prepared for these changes.
It’s time for healthcare system to take note of this and begin planning accordingly. You can’t escape the explosion of technology available, nor can you afford to ignore the implications of choosing not to use it.
Several times on this blog I have discussed the need to advance pharmacy through the use of new and exciting technologies. Yesterday I experienced something that brings light to the reason pharmacy practice is still in the Stone Age, where it may live forever.
We had a minor pharmacy system upgrade yesterday. The system was down for about 45 minutes. Although minor, the upgrade required the removal of the previous version of the pharmacy software prior to installing the new version. Overall the process went smoothly. However, within a few minutes of giving the pharmacists the all clear I began receiving phone call after phone call because the upgrade “didn’t work” and they couldn’t “get into Siemens”. The problem: the install client failed to put the shortcut icon for the pharmacy system on their desktop. Seriously, that’s the problem? Wow!
The “problem” brought the pharmacy to a standstill. So, the next time you talk about carousel technology, automated packaging, or clinical decision support software, remember that many pharmacists still struggle with using a computer; a device that is common in nearly every household in America.
I bet Steve Jobs doesn’t have these problems. ;-)
InformationWeek: “As touch-screen hardware and tools for developing multitouch applications become more prevalent, businesses of all kinds will want to leverage the technology. Get ready to see it in all sorts of apps, including those used in retail, stock trading, manufacturing, inventory management, healthcare, appliance repair, and delivery services. Touch-sensing interfaces aren’t new — operations as diverse as the U.S. Postal Service and McDonald’s are using them. But these systems are based on users making a single point of contact with the screen, and they don’t support gestures. Compare that with the emerging class of multitouch sensing that lets users interact with devices using more than one finger and employing a drag-and-drop capability. For instance, users pinch their thumb and forefinger together to shrink a photo. Users of MacBook Pro, with its multitouch trackpad for manipulating objects, are familiar with multitouch, but the technology is just gaining traction on other platforms. Besides Microsoft, Qt Software is supporting it with QTouchEvent and QGestureEvent classes in the Qt 4.6 framework.” - It looks like the only people not interested in multitouch technology are those in healthcare and the makers of my Droid, i.e. Motorola. Doh!
Technology Review (MIT): “At the base of the new device a “sensor tile” produces magnetic multiple fields above its surface. By detecting disturbances to these fields, the system can track the movement of a metal object across its surface, or the manipulation of a bladder filled with iron filings or a magnetic fluid. A user can drag a ball bearing across the surface to move a cursor across a computer’s screen, or manipulate a ferrous fluid-filled bladder to sculpt 3D virtual objects.” – Pretty cool stuff.
The caption for the image at right: “Bladder control: Manipulating a magnetic fluid on top of the researchers’ “sensor tile” (top) offers a novel way to control a computer. The interface can be used to sculpt virtual shapes (bottom). Credit: Microsoft”
Bladder control: Manipulating a magnetic fluid on top of the researchers’ “sensor tile” (top) offers a novel way to control a computer. The interface can be used to sculpt virtual shapes (bottom).
Credit: Microsoft
I have been carrying the Motorola Droid from Verizon around for a little over a week now, and while I haven’t learned all the ins and outs of the phone, I have certainly used it long enough to form an opinion.
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Telegraph.co.uk: “Software being developed by American and Australian scientists will hopefully allow patients simply to cough into their phone, and it will tell them whether they have cold, flu, pneumonia or other respiratory diseases. Whether a cough is dry or wet, or “productive” or “non-productive” (referring to the presence of mucus on the lungs), can give a doctor information about what is causing that cough, for example whether it is caused by a bacterial or a viral infection.” - I don’t know about you, but I’m a little skeptical about this one.
I find it interesting that the photo on the Telegraph site is of an iPhone, while the original article at DiscoveryNews shows a completely different device. Amazing how the media injects the iPhone into everything to increase interest.
Read the press release from STAR Analytical Services here (PDF).
Each day I roll into work ready for another exciting day of pharmacy technology. I’m usually bright-eyed and ready for a new challenge because I’ve spent the previous night scouring the web and reading about all the incredible technology being put into place all over the world; tablet pcs, electronic paper and ink, advanced nanoparticles, automated dispensing devices, mobile phones, advances in social networking, and so on ad infinitum. Then there are days like today when I have something land in my lap that just makes me shake my head and wonder if healthcare will ever catch up to the rest of the world.
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I can’t help myself. I’m constantly tinkering with one thing or another when it comes to my laptop. Lately I’ve been playing around with different internet browsers. Like everyone else, I cut my teeth using Internet Explorer (IE); mainly because it was the only browser out there for a long time. Things have certainly changed as there are now several browsers to choose from and IE is no longer king.
On occasion I will download the most recent version reincarnation of IE. I’m not sure why I do it, but I do. No matter what changes Microsoft makes the browsing experience just isn’t what it could be. IE improves with each release to be sure, but the improvements always seem to come up short.
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GottaBeMobile: “I am firmly of the belief that touch and multitouch make no real, practical sense on the desktop monitor. As we’ve stated on GBM before, the main problem for touch interfaces on the desktop is “gorilla arm”, that heavy, painful feeling you get in your arm after having it outstretched for an extended period, trying to touch a monitor 20-24 inches away from your body. Sure there are times when touch on the desktop monitor would be handy to just scratch out a quickie OneNote drawing, but for 99% of the time, for 99% of the people, touch on the desktop monitor space just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense even if it came for free. Now on the smaller form factors, Apple has really done the space a lot of service. Users and fanboys alike have been shown how touch and multitouch work on an iPhone. Apple’s advertising for the touch features of iPhone are direct, to the point, and show the audience what is going on without a lot of flash or distraction. Much like the HP ads for their newer IQ-series TouchSmart kitchen PC, the advertising is creative and effective.” – While I agree in theory to what Mr. Locke is saying, there are times when a touch screen is simply the best way to go. Desktop computers may not be the right application for such devices, but a desk surface may be the perfect area for a touch screen. We have several monitors scattered throughout our pharmacy that I would love to see as touch screens. For some reason I feel compelled to touch a computer monitor when I’m standing instead of seated in front of it. Touch screens also make excellent tools for surfing the internet while kicking back on the couch watching football. Now there’s a practical use for touch screen technology.
Columbia Tribune: “Cerner talks confirmed by officials – University of Missouri Health Care is now negotiating with the Kansas City-based Cerner Corp., administrators have confirmed. MU Health information technology workers have been worried for months that their jobs could be outsourced to Cerner, considered one of the leading health information technology providers. Several employees have said supervisors told them different Cerner-related stories, but mostly workers have been kept in the dark. Williamson and Ross said employees would be notified “promptly” if a Cerner agreement is made. The university has a longstanding relationship with Cerner. The company provides hardware products for the hospital and has an educational partnership with the MU School of Medicine.” - The University of Missouri Health Care may not be handling the situation in the most gracious way possible, but I’ve mentioned before that I think outsourcing IT resources is a good idea. It’s simply unreasonable to expect locally developed IT resources to have the same knowledgebase as the IT resources at the company providing the product. And it’s probably cheaper, too.
