Pharmacy Technology

ASHP Midyear 2015 Technology Summary

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This year’s ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting was held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana on December 6 through December 10, 2015.  For many, the Midyear Meeting is about the latest in clinical advances, but for me, it’s an opportunity to see all the new pharmacy automation and technology. And the … Read more

BD introduces simplified comprehensive IV management [#AHSPMidyear15]

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Like many others, I received a press release from BD while attending the 2015 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in New Orleans. The press release touted the introduction of “a simplified way for hospitals to manage intravenous (IV) medication to help improve safety and reduce waste”. The press release goes on to explain how BD has … Read more

Automated intravenous fluid monitoring at the bedside

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Over the years I’ve had a lot of ideas, some good and some not. When an idea comes to me, I typically record it in a notebook that I have sitting on my desk. Occasionally I return to the notebook and review the ideas to see how many of the ideas still have merit. Sometimes an idea has become outdated, and rarely an idea will have materialized as a product of similar design built by a company. And then there’s a group of ideas and concepts that still hold value but haven’t been seen in the market.

Today I was rummaging through some of my old ideas. One of them from 2010 caught my attention. In 2010 I thought it would be cool if someone could use technology to analyze the IV fluid being administered to a patient in real-time. Basically, such a system would prevent the wrong IV medication from being hung on a patient, thus preventing a medication error.

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Cleanroom technology for pharmacy – DRUGCAM

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DRUGCAM is an interesting piece of pharmacy cleanroom technology. On one hand it falls into the semi-automated systems category because the person using it has to manually manipulate all the components of the sterile compound they’re making. In other words, it’s not a robot. On the other hand DRUGCAM uses some interesting technology and software … Read more

More from #ASHP Midyear

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Yesterday was more of the same, i.e. I spent several hours in the exhibit hall yesterday trying to make my way through my “game plan”. And again I failed to complete my mission. I spent a lot of time speaking to various people about some of the things I saw on Monday.

Some of my stops and thoughts from yesterday:

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CareFusion announces partnership with Kit Check at #ASHP Midyear

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Last night I attended the first ever CareFusion Insider Event held at ASHP Midyear. The event was designed to spotlight CareFusion and their product line. Some new things were announced like the introduction of a Pyxis Mini and a new focus for the Rowa Dose System. CareFusion has had the Rowa Dose System for a … Read more

#ASHP Midyear 2014 game plan

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ASHP Midyear is next week in Anaheim, California. I arrive in Anaheim on Sunday afternoon, and will be there until Wednesday morning. I always look forward to Midyear as it gives me an opportunity to connect with friends I haven’t seen in a while and learn some new things.

One of the great benefits that Midyear offers me is an opportunity to look at large amounts of pharmacy automation and technology in one place at the same time. Midyear is the only place where you will find so many vendors in one space. The exhibit hall is typically full, and it’s where I spend a lot of my time.

While I enjoy visiting with all the exhibitors, limited exhibit hall hours means that I have to prioritize where I spend my time.

My must-see list this year includes:

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In the Clean Room: A Review of Technology-Assisted Sterile Compounding Systems in the US [report]

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For the better part of the past year I’ve been working on a project with Mark Neuenschwander of The Neuenschwander Company looking at technologies used in pharmacy clean rooms to prepare sterile compounds.

The research into this area took much longer than originally anticipated. We discovered along the way that this subject is much more complex than it appears on the surface. Information is difficult to find, some of the technologies are little more than marketing material on a company website, and the subject matter is in its infancy.

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