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.
Continue reading “What’d I miss?” – Week of May 30, 2010
Tag: ASHP
Time to nominate someone for the ASHP PPMI Summit
I briefly touched on the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) last week. As part of the initiative ASHP will be holding a PPMI Summit in Dallas, Texas, November 7-9, 2010 where a lot of brilliant minds will come together to work towards advancing pharmacy practice.
Continue reading Time to nominate someone for the ASHP PPMI Summit
“What’d I miss?†– Week of March 21, 2010
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.
Continue reading “What’d I miss?†– Week of March 21, 2010
Pharmacy practice model spotlight in ASHP PPMI eNewsletter
ASHP and the ASHP Research and Education Foundation have partnered to take a long hard look at what pharmacy practice looks like now and what it needs to look like in the future. The venture is called the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative, or PPMI. According to the ASHP PPMI website “there is an urgent need to create a forward thinking hospital and health-system pharmacy practice model.“ I couldn’t agree more.
The current pharmacy practice model is more than 3 decades old and is sorely in need of an overhaul. Of course the changes will represent not only the services pharmacists provide and how pharmacists participate in patient care and safety, but also how to best utilize technology to accomplish the ultimate goal; a better pharmacy practice model.
Continue reading Pharmacy practice model spotlight in ASHP PPMI eNewsletter
Year end thoughts for 2009
2009 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 skills previously absent from my armamentarium, met some great new people, discovered the “real†internet for the first time, traveled more than ever before, discovered I don’t know diddly squat about a great many things, and am more excited about the next year than I can remember in recent history.
Below is a list of opinions about a great many things that I have seen and done over the past year. Some are pharmacy related, some are technology related, some are personal, and some are just random thoughts.
Continue reading Year end thoughts for 2009
ASHP Midyear 2009 – “The Plan”
I’m sitting in the airport waiting for my plane to board and getting my agenda together. Below is my plan of attack for my time in Vegas. Of course it’s all just speculation at this point as I have an affinity to stray from my plans based on what I find interesting. I also need to find some time for the exhibit hall, where I will undoubtedly waste countless hours wondering around checking out all the cool technology.
Sunday
– Talyst User Group, 2:00 – 5:00 PM
Monday
– IV Sedation in the Intensive Care Unit: Applying Pharmacoeconomic Principles, 6:15-7:45 AM
– Opening Session, 9:00-10:30 AM
– Integrating Tech to Improve Medication-Use and Patient Safety, 11:30AM – 1:30 PM
– Does the Shoe Fit? Selecting Robotic IV Technology for Pediatric Sites, 2:00-5:00 PM
– Section Advisory Group on Ambulatory Care Informatics Networking Session, 5:15-6:15 PM
– Pharmacy OneSource Happy Hour, 5:30-7:00 PM
Tuesday
– BCMA: Inpatient & Outpatient Trends, Metrics, and Innovations, 8:00-9:30 AM
– On the Bleeding Edge of Technology: Overcoming Implementation Challenges with Informatics, 10:00-11:00 AM
– Section Advisory Group on Pharmacy Operations Automation Networking Session, 11:15 AM – 12:30 PM
Here’s where it get fuzzy. There are 4 sessions in the 2:00-5:00PM slot that I want to attend; not sure what I’m going to do just yet.
– Redefining the Practice Model: Where Have We Been, Where Do We Go? 2:00-5:00PM
– Rule of Thumb: A Look at Positive ID, Secondary Authentication, and Health IT Regulation, 2:00-4:00 PM
– Powerful Impact of Human Factors Engineering on Medication Safety, 2:30-4:00 PM
– More Than a Vending Machine: Effectively Planning and Implementing Carousel/Packager Technology, 4:00-5:00 PM
Wednesday
– Pharmacy 2.0: How the Web is Changing How We Practice, 8:00-9:45 AM
– Section Advisory Group on Pharmacy Informatics Education Networking Sessions, 11:15 AM – 12:30 PM
– Informatics Bytes 2009: Pearls of Informatics, 2:00-5:00 PM
Unfortunately I return home on Wednesday night, which means I will miss the following sessions that I would like to attend, especially the first one listed.
Thursday
– Does Current Technology/Automation Need to Change to Advance Pharmacy Technician Dispensing? 9:30 AM -12 NOON
– Strategies for Successfully Implementing ADMs and CPOE into the Medication Management System, 2:00-4:00 PM
View on technology-enabled practice from ASHP
The September issue of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy contains a vision statement written by the ASHP Section of Pharmacy Informatics and Technology. The statement represents their thoughts on the current state of pharmacy practice and contains a healthy dose of ideas on how technology can help support and improve pharmacy practice.
Continue reading View on technology-enabled practice from ASHP
ASHP Makes Recommendations for Definition of “Meaningful Use”
ASHP.org: “In a recent letter to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, ASHP said the definition of meaningful use should include the following three elements: interoperability of medication orders and prescriptions; medication decision support and continuous improvement; and the ability to report and quantify improved patient safety, quality outcomes, and cost-effectiveness in the medication-use process.” – Kind of vague, don’t you think. I expected a little more aggressive stance.
Where is pharmacy informatics headed?
Recently I read an interesting article in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. The question of what defines a pharmacy informaticist was raised. I’ve mused over that question many times myself. Because there is no standardized definition for a pharmacy informaticist, it is extremely difficult to define their role. A look at the many different job descriptions for IT pharmacists posted on the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) website is testimony to that.
Continue reading Where is pharmacy informatics headed?
Barcode scanning technology continues to improve patient safety.
Am J Health Syst Pharm (2009;66 1110-1115): “A total of 1465 medication administrations were observed (775 preimplementation and 690 postimplementation) for 92 patients (45 preimplementation and 47 postimplementation). The medication error rate was reduced by 56% after the implementation of BCMA (19.7% versus 8.7% , p < 0.001). This benefit was related to a reduction associated with errors of wrong administration time. Wrong administration time errors decreased from 18.8% during preimplementation to 7.5% postimplementation (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in other error types. Conclusion. The implementation of BCMA significantly reduced the number of wrong administration time errors in an adult medical ICU.” – I’ve touched on this before. In a pre-barcode era mistakes at the bedside weren’t caught and patients suffered the consequences. Barcoded medication administration has tremendous potential. I am hopeful that hospitals will continue to develop its potential in this age of technology, and in doing so drive medication administration errors to zero.