There’s a very interesting article at the Pharmacy Times that talks about the how the “retail prescription” has created a lot of problems for outpatient pharmacies, and it’s not what you think. At least it wasn’t for me.
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Month: August 2014
Saturday morning coffee [August 23 2014]
“Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.†-John Wooden”
So much happens each and every week that it’s hard to keep up sometimes. Here are some of the tabs that are open in my browser this morning along with some random thoughts….
Cool Technology for Healthcare – GPS SmartSole
Yep, you read the right, GPS-enabled insoles for your shoes. Very interesting concept when you stop to consider the potential benefits of such technology in healthcare, i.e. think Alzheimer’s for one, although the use cases are expansive.
Up until a couple of weeks ago I had never heard of the GPS SmartSole, but apparently they’ve been around for a while. According to the company website – GTX Corp – the product has been around since 2008. Who knew?
The technology gives users the ability to track individual’s location via any smartphone, tablet, or other web-enabled device. Caregivers can even configure the system to send text and email alerts when the user leaves a designated area. Of course it only works if the user is wearing their shoes.
The benefits of an EHR may or may not be real
I’ve had reason to think about Electronic Health Records (EHRs) these past few weeks. There is a lot riding on their success or failure. There’s no question that EHRs will be the future of all documentation in healthcare, but I’m not convinced that healthcare is ready for the transition. At least not yet.
The potential advantages of EHRs are many. In theory they offer real-time information, integration of many systems across a single platform, the ability to store, access and manipulate massive amounts of data (“business intelligenceâ€, analytics, “big dataâ€, etc), they provide information that follows a patient regardless of where they go or who they see, the offer potential for patients to view, edit, use, and add to their own medical information, and so on.
These are all good things. If only the potential was reality. The current state of EHRs is far from their future potential.
On demand controlled substances dispensing at the point of care (NarcoMedic®)
NarcoMedic is a product from Pearson Medical Technologies. Pearson is a small company out of Alexandria, LA. They’ve made a business out of bar code labeling and packaging technologies. You’re probably most familiar with their iPackRx unit dose packager and m:Print software; either as the direct product or possibly as an OEM’d version for another company.
A colleague sent me a marketing email a few days ago from Pearson announcing NarcoMedic, a “decentralized management platform†for controlled substances. It caught my attention as I thought about something like this several years ago.
As with other automated dispensing units, NarcoMedic is designed to dispense medications at the point of care, i.e. nursing unit. With that said, what caught my attention were the following points:
- Tabletop design – 38â€H x 23â€L x 32â€D. Med rooms tend to be cramped. It’s nice to have the option for a small unit.
- Packages and dispenses in individual patient-specific bar coded packages (packages on demand from storage locations)
- Packages and dispenses tablets, vials, ampules and syringes in individual packages.
Pretty interesting. As I said, it’s not a new concept, but perhaps it’s time has come. Regardless, it’s nice to see someone out there trying something new.
Saturday morning coffee [August 9 2014]
“If you think a weakness can be turned into a strength, I hate to tell you this, but that’s another weakness.” -Jack Handey
So much happens each and every week that it’s hard to keep up sometimes. Here are some of the tabs that are open in my browser this morning along with some random thoughts….
The coffee mug below is relatively new. It’s one of two that I picked up in Las Vegas at M&M World during one of my daughter’s volleyball tournaments earlier this year.
Keeping up with the Joneses, or how pharmacies choose technology
Recently a colleague sent me a link to the FierceHealthIT article below. Much of what the article had to say rang true for me. Hospitals covet neighboring facilities’ technology: “Facilities were more likely to acquire a new surgical robot if neighboring hospitals had done so, according to a study from a group of private and … Read more
Cool Pharmacy Technology – TelePharm
Telepresence has seen its ups and downs over the years. The technology is certainly nothing new, but it has been underutilized in both the inpatient and outpatient healthcare space. This is especially true when it comes to pharmacy, which is odd because one would think that telepresence technology could be used to give pharmacists the … Read more
Saturday morning coffee [August 2 2014]
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC – 531 BC)
So much happens each and every week that it’s hard to keep up sometimes. Here are some of the tabs that are open in my browser this morning along with some random thoughts….
The coffee mug below is relatively new. I picked it up in Las Vegas at M&M World during one of my daughter’s volleyball tournaments earlier this year.
