Jerry Fahrni

Author: Jerry Fahrni

  • Top 10 most read CE activities for Pharmacists in 2009

    MedscapeCME/CE has compiled a list of the top 10 most read CE activities by Pharmacists in 2009.

    1. Avoiding Medication Errors in Psychiatry – 1.00 knowledge-based ACPE (0.100 CEUs)

    2. Avoiding Errors Associated With Insulin Therapy – 1.25 knowledge-based ACPE (0.125 CEUs)

    3. FAQs in the Modern Management of Gout – 1.00 knowledge-based ACPE (0.100 CEUs)

    4. Fast Facts in Gout – 1.00 knowledge-based ACPE (0.100 CEUs)

    5. A Home-Bound 65-Year-Old Woman With Chronic Constipation – 1.50 knowledge-based ACPE (0.150 CEUs)

    6. Special Considerations for Potential Adverse Drug Events and Medication Errors in the Pediatric Population – 1.25 knowledge-based ACPE (0.125 CEUs)

    7. Evaluation and Treatment of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation – 1.00 knowledge-based ACPE (0.100 CEUs)

    8. Implementing Changing Guidelines on Adult Immunizations: An Expert Interview With Gregory A. Poland, MD, MACP – 0.50 knowledge-based ACPE (0.050 CEUs)

    9. Managing MRSA in the Community Practice Setting – 0.50 knowledge-based ACPE (0.050 CEUs)

    10. The Science of Acid Control — Therapeutic Implications – 0.50 knowledge-based ACPE (0.050 CEUs)

    Posted via email from fahrni’s posterous

  • Dual screen laptops are pretty cool

    When I first heard of the concept of a dual screen laptop my initial thought was that it was a ridiculous idea. Then I spent a little time researching the product and have changed opinion. Now I’d like to put my hands on one.

    The Kohjinsha DZ dual-screen laptop is much smaller then I expected, which is a good thing. The device offers two 10.1” screens, giving you some nice screen real estate when both are open. Additional features include biometric fingerprint identification, 1.3 megapixel webcam, up to 4 GB RAM, built in wireless, a 3-in-1 media slot and Windows 7 Home Premium.
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  • “What’d I miss?” – Week of December 20th

    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.
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  • Merry Christmas

    And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch of their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

    Luke 2:8-11

  • Cool Technology for Pharmacy

    Pandora Data Systems (PDS) is a company that, in the past, has designed software solutions to take information from automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) like Pyxis, store it, manipulated it, run queries against it and produce reports that allow pharmacy departments to view medication usage trends; including trends to identify diversion.PDS now appears to be expanding their role with the introduction of PandoraVIA.

    PandoraVIA is the next generation of data crunching software from the company. According to the PDS website “PandoraVIA is the new, full-featured reporting system from Pandora Data Systems. It’s designed to be a highly scalable and affordable platform built with Microsoft’s latest technologies. These technologies take the full functionality from our Pandora (Legacy Edition) and PandoraSQL products and move them to the next level.”

    The new software framework is designed to accommodate various modules depending on the needs of the customer. The system currently supports Pyxis, AcuDose, Omnicell, MedDispense and Cerner. However, after spending some time with the Pandora representatives at AHSP Midyear they informed me that their new system could add custom data from almost any source based on need.

    PandoraVIA utilizes XML, SOAP, and WSDL to meet the needs of the healthcare system, and is capable of a host of reports that can be exported in a variety of formats.

    A system that can aggregate data from many different sources offers real value to many healthcare disciplines, especially pharmacy which is often driven by data. Data mining is important, but not always easy because of the myriad of systems utilized and the general poor quality of integration. In addition, many IT departments aren’t equipped with the necessary resources to handle a project of this magnitude; believe me, I’ve tried.

    Data I would like pulled into such a system include our Alaris Smart Pump data, our pharmacy information system (Siemens Pharmacy) data, our automated dispensing cabinet (Pyxis) data, our carousel, packaging and inventory control (Talyst) data, and our bar code medication administration data. Aggregate data from these systems could be mined for an infinite number of possible trends and uses.

    Posted via email from fahrni’s posterous

  • Lexi-Comp medical references for the Droid

    Recently I was fortunate enough to be a beta tester for the new Android version of Lexi-Comp’s suite of medical information software. I was very excited for the opportunity as I’ve been using what I would consider inferior drug information resources since purchasing my Droid about a month ago. The installation was a problem initially as the databases wouldn’t install directly to the microSD card on the Droid. As you can imagine, the databases are large and immediately filled up the physical memory on the device. Within a couple of weeks of reporting the problem to Lexi-Comp they had corrected the issue and sent me a new build that installed seamlessly.
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  • Physician dictation on mobile smartphones

    RTT News: “3M Health Information Systems has released 3M(TM) Mobile Dictation Software, a powerful new application that extends 3M’s dictation, transcription, and speech recognition solutions. Available on the BlackBerry(R) or Windows Mobile(R) platforms, the software offers physicians the freedom of using a single device for phone, email, and dictation, and provides “anytime, anywhere” access via Wi-Fi or 3G wireless service. 3M Mobile Dictation is enhanced with a full range of security features that fulfill HIPAA and hospital-specific guidelines for encryption and authentication.” – Developments such as mobile dictation could decrease the turnaround time between the physician’s spoken word and a readable document, which is one of the biggest issues with dictated notes. With the popularity of smartphones most physicians will have easy access to timely dictation. In theory that is.

    Visit the 3M site for more information.

  • Technology to prevent medication errors (article)

    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.

  • Biometric identification and facial recognition

    CrunchGear reports on a new product called Lockface USB flash drive from Futen, a Japanese company. The flash drive uses facial recognition to identify its users. According to CrunchGear: “The first thing to do is to register a number of pictures of your face. After that, the Lockface verifies your face every time you need to access data on it (the verification process takes about a second). The USB drive doesn’t require extra software to be downloaded or installed. Alternatively, you can also use a password, completely ignoring the face recognition function of the device. It uses 256-bit AES to encrypt the data. Futen says the device has an error rate of about 2% (it verifies the “wrong” person in 1.91% of cases and won’t verify the right person in 1.98% of cases).”
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  • Nice look at Web 2.0 and pharmacy in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education

    Am J Pharm Educ. 2009;73(7):1-11: “One positive aspect of Web 2.0 applications is that they create a participatory architecture for supporting communities of learners. Unlike learning management systems (which are closed systems) and static Web pages (which are singular-owned), blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking sites are open to learners from multiple schools and facilitate collaboration on content creation. This participatory culture is, in essence, a key component of Web 2.0 and one that gives promise to educators who seek a means to include students in the creation of knowledge.”

    The article does a good job of describing several commonly used components of Web 2.0 such as blogs, social networks, aggregation, podcasts, etc. While the information in the article is specifically aimed at pharmacy education, it is valuable to practicing pharmacists as well.

    The application of Web 2.0 was a popular topic at ASHP earlier this month; I mention it here. Web 2.0 is nothing new. In fact it’s rather old in terms of technology. But like many other technologies, pharmacy has been slow to adopt it. The key to all this is to remember that many of these services can be used to disseminate valuable information to other pharmacists and healthcare professionals. Think of Web 2.0 as just another tool in the pharmacist’s armamentarium. More information on Web 2.0 can be found here.