Year: 2015

Saturday morning coffee [March 21 2015]

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“Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.” – Sholom Aleichem

So much happens each and every week, and 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….

I was sitting in The Main Street Café in Visalia, CA having breakfast with my brother when I saw the sign below hanging on the wall. Perk ‘Em Up….would make a great name for a coffee shop, no? Just in case you were wondering, the staff was great, but the food was mediocre. The pancakes weren’t very good at all. No flavor. Bacon was good though.

MUG_CoffeeShop

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Drug shortages, whose to blame?

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Medscape: “One cause of these shortages, pharmaceutical companies charge, is the amount of time it takes the DEA to approve controlled substance quotas. The DEA has created these quotas for each class of controlled substances and for each manufacturer of drugs containing these agents to prevent their diversion to illegal uses.”

The drug shortage problem is nothing new. It has become an everyday reality of pharmacy practice. ASHP has established a dedicated website for the problem, and the FDA has gone as far as to create a mobile app to help people track shortage information.

For most people the idea of a drug shortage seems silly, i.e. just make more. The problem is more complicated than that, however. The causes of drug shortages are multifaceted.

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Saturday morning coffee [March 14 2015]

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“There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.” – Goethe

So much happens each and every week, and 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 mug below comes straight from Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland, OR. My wife and youngest daughter were up North last week visiting colleges. They surprised me upon their return with a box of Voodoo Doughnuts and this mug. The doughnuts were delicious.

MUG_VoodooDoughnuts

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Applications to assist with Antimicrobial Stewardship

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A couple of days ago I wrote about The California Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Initiative, and how it’s an opportunity for pharmacists to get out and stretch their clinical legs. Antimicrobial stewardship requires a lot of real-time surveillance and monitoring of patients, labs and cultures, medication use, and so on. There are basically two ways to … Read more

Antmicrobial Stewardship, an opportunity for pharmacists

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Interesting little blurb in the March 1, 2015 edition of AJHP that talks about a new California law that will require acute care hospitals to practice antimicrobial stewardship. The law goes into goes into effect July 1, 2015. [Paywall access to the article] What’s antimicrobial stewardship? Well, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), … Read more

Saturday morning coffee [March 7 2015]

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“Your reputation is in the hands of others. That’s what a reputation is. You can’t control that. The only thing you can control is your character.” – Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

So much happens each and every week, and 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….

MUG_SMC

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5 years later, my thoughts on pharmacy practice

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I haven’t been a practicing pharmacist in the traditional sense in about five years. I’ve spent the last 19 months as an independent consultant, which has been awesome. Prior to that I was a Product Manager for about two and a half years at a company that dealt in pharmacy automation and technology. Before that I was an IT Pharmacist, which did give me an occasional glimpse of “pharmacy practice”, but overall I figure it’s been at least 5 years since I worked at earnest as a staff pharmacist.

Recently I took a per diem position in a large acute care hospital as a staff pharmacist. I’m completely content being a consultant, and have enjoyed it very much, but I felt that I was losing touch with the daily grind that is pharmacy. I needed to get my hands dirty again and make sure that I wasn’t giving advice to people that was out of touch with reality. I think it’s important for any consultant to be able to relate to the actual problems that they’re being asked to solve. So for the past few months I’ve been staffing about a day a week. Below are some thoughts on what I’ve seen and heard.

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Cool Pharmacy Technology – Intelliguard RFID Solutions from MEPS Real-Time

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Last week I spent some time down south in San Diego visiting a couple of hospitals and speaking with the good folks at MEPS Real-Time. My objective for the visit was twofold: 1) see MEPS RFID Solutions in a live environment, and 2) speak with the people at MEPS and get an inside look at their technology. I was able to accomplish both goals.

MEPS Real-Time is a company that specializes in providing RFID solutions for healthcare specifically targeted at acute care pharmacies. Their Intelliguard® RFID Solutions product line currently includes a Kit and Tray Management System, Controlled Temperature Cabinets, and a Vendor Management Inventory (VMI) System.

MEPS_RFID_TAG

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Saturday morning coffee [February 21 2015]

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“An error doesn’t become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.” – Orlando A. Battista

So much happens each and every week, and 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 mug below was sitting next to my laptop filled with chocolate covered espresso beans last Saturday morning, Valentine’s Day. A gift from my lovely wife. Apparently she’s aware of my addiction. It made me smile.

MUG_Valentines

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