Pharmacy Technology

On demand controlled substances dispensing at the point of care (NarcoMedic®)

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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 – 38”H x 23”L x 32”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.

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Keeping up with the Joneses, or how pharmacies choose technology

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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

Additional thoughts on the use of gravimetrics for I.V. compounding

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Scale in PECSeveral months ago I wrote about my thoughts on using gravimetrics for I.V. compounding. At the time I wasn’t convinced of the utility, but my thoughts on the matter have changed. Over the past several months I’ve had the opportunity to dig deeper and mull over my thoughts on the matter.

There was a session at ASHP Midyear back in December titled New and Emerging Strategies for Minimizing Errors in I.V. Preparation: Focus on Safety and Workflow Efficiency. The presentation covered several topics, but one thing that caught my attention was data presented on error rates for the preparation of compounded sterile products (CSPs)1 and the benefits of using gravimetrics in the process. I was skeptical about some of the numbers that were presented. Data is only as good as how it was collected, what it’s compare against, and how it’s presented. One should always question the data, especially when it runs contrary to previously held beliefs.

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IV hood sensors [idea]

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I saw a commercial for the Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat the other day. It’s a neat little gadget that reminded me of something that I’ve been thinking about for years.

The requirements for monitoring, cleaning, and analyzing conditions in an IV clean room are enormous. To get a feel for what I’m talking about I would encourage you to take some time to read through the list of surface testing, air sampling, and end product testing required by USP <797> for pharmacies that compound sterile preparations (CSPs). It’s fairly extensive and complex.

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Things get interesting as #Aesynt acquires Health Robotics

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Business Wire: “Aesyntâ„¢ announced it has completed the acquisition of Health Robotics, the leading global supplier of automated technology for intravenous (IV) medication preparation, compounding and dispensing.” For those of you that have short memories, Aesynt is basically a spin-off of the acute care pharmacy side of McKesson. It’s a big group that specializes in … Read more

Difficulty collecting information on pharmacy technology

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I’ve been collecting information on pharmacy IV room systems for the better part of the past eight months. I’m talking about system designed to help pharmacists not only manage their IV room workflow, but also help with safety, efficiency, documentation, and so on.

These systems are becoming more and more popular these days as the powers to be, i.e. the FDA and pharmacy boards are about to get heavy handed with pharmacy IV rooms.

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Gema Kit – NFC-enabled medication compliance tracking for consumers

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This is interesting, the use of NFC tags to track patient’s medication compliance. Makes sense when you consider the ubiquitous nature of NFC on mobile devices these days. MedCityNews: “[Gema Kit] features stickers embedded with sensors that link to a patient reporting website. These small circles go on pills, pill bottles or blister packs. The … Read more