Jerry Fahrni

Month: May 2011

  • Top posts for week ending May 8, 2011

    Below is a list of the most read blog posts over the last week based on number of hits:

    1. All good things must come to an end, and so goes the pharmacist shortage
    2. Some friendly advice for pharmacy recruiters
    3. Best iPhone / iPod Touch Applications for Pharmacists
    4. Cool Technology for Pharmacy (Alaris Smartpumps June 18th, 2009)
    5. Quick update: Pharmacy iPad use
    6. First Impressions – Lenovo T410s Laptop
    7. The evolution of tablets for pharmacy
    8. What are you going to do with all that data?
    9. Moving storage around in the “cloud”
    10. Barcodes on patient wristbands
    11. Taking a look at the new Lenovo X220t Tablet PC
    12. Thoughts on speech recognition in pharmacy
    13. Cool Technology for Pharmacy (Capsule Machine September 10, 2009)
    14. “What’d I miss?” – Week of October 4th
    15. Cool Technology for Pharmacy (hydrogel membrane October 15, 2009)

     

  • Why Disney should run healthcare

    My oldest daughter’s competitive cheer team qualified for the World’s Cheer competition in Orlando, FL. The competition was held a couple of weekends ago at Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports. There were teams from all over the world; Czech Republic, Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, New Zealand the US, among others. It was big, really big and Disney handled it without incident.

    Here are some observations:
    (more…)

  • Some friendly advice for pharmacy recruiters

    I get a fair number of emails and phone calls from pharmacy recruiters. The number has decreased over the past couple of years secondary to the change in demand for pharmacists, but I still get them. Lately I think it’s a byproduct of having a LinkedIn profile, which makes me wonder if LinkedIn is worth the time, energy and effort of keeping an online work profile up to date. That’s a post for another day.

    Regardless, most of the recruiters that contact me offend more than intrigue me, and here’s where they make their mistakes. (more…)

  • All good things must come to an end, and so goes the pharmacist shortage

    The pharmacist shortage was both good and bad for the pharmacy profession. On one hand it created demand which drove up salaries and improved work environments for some. On the other hand it created an environment of apathy where competition to become better dipped because frequently all you needed was a pulse and a license to get hired and/or keep your job.

    Well, times are changing. I noticed a slight change in pharmacist demand during my last two years in the hospital and many people that I’ve talked to across the country confirm what I’ve been thinking – the pharmacist shortage is over.
    (more…)

  • BlackBerry PlayBook impressions

    Mobile Health Computing: “I had a chance to briefly see the BlackBerry PlayBook at HIMSS 2011, but then I had a chance to spend some time and play with it recently when I was at the airport. The device is small and light and my first impression was: “this is simply too small.”

    The PlayBook is really slim and has a solid feel. You’ll notice that the device does not have a “home” button like the iPad. You’ll need to play around to figure out how to navigate back to the home menu. Try a few on-screen gestures and you’ll quickly figure it out. If you can’t figure it out, try swiping up, swipe down, swipe left, etc. The new mobile Operating Systemis not like your typical BlackBerry. This new OS is much closer to HP webOS (formerly Palm webOS).”

    I also had an opportunity to play with a BlackBerry PlayBook recently while at the airport (I wonder if it was the same airport). I found myself in a BlackBerry store, which I didn’t even know existed. I agree with much of what is said above, but I didn’t feel the device too small. I like being able to hold the PlayBook in one hand while controlling it with the other. I feel the same way about the 7” Galaxy Samsung tablet. It’s personal preference at this point.

    One thing I think BlackBerry did especially well was the OS, which I also think is similar in approach to the webOS. I found it a breeze to navigate through several open apps without having to jump out of any single applications. With that said, it may take you a second to figure out how best to navigate using “off screen” finger swiping. It wasn’t immediately obvious.

    The bottom line is that I’d like to have one.

  • Data visualization and dashboards

    A wise colleague of mine once told me that lots of people collect data, but few people know what to do with it. I didn’t understand what he was talking about at the time, but I’ve come to have a better understanding over the years. It basically boils down to the difficulty that many of us experience when it comes to the best way to handle information. Our brains do some amazing things, but fail to “see” things when the perspective is all wrong.

    Data surrounds us. It’s in everything we do, from the bank statements we receive in our personal life to the mountains of data collected by every healthcare institution. Regardless of the data collected, there are basically three things that can be done with it. Data can be ignored, it can be archived or it can be used. Unfortunately only one of those three things is truly useful; using it. Many people chose to ignore or archive data not because the information isn’t valuable, but because they are overwhelmed with the amount of information they receive and the way that the information is presented.
    (more…)