Jerry Fahrni

Blog

  • The tail wagging the dog

    WSJ: “The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it will require some painkiller manufacturers to produce new educational tools in an effort to quell prescription-drug abuse.

    The requirements will affect makers of long-acting and extended-release opioids, which include oxycodone, morphine and methadone.

    Letters have been sent to manufacturers of the drugs describing the medication guides and tools for physician training that are now required, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said. The FDA will approve the materials, which will also be accredited by professional physician-education providers, she said, a step meant to combat bias in the materials.”

    Oh. My. Gosh. Let me see if I can wrap my brain around this. The FDA is going to require that manufacturers of certain “painkillers” tell physicians how to properly use the drugs instead of requiring physicians to read the literature and do exactly what they’re trained and paid to do. Crud, it’s nothing a good pharmacist couldn’t fix. Why doesn’t the FDA simply require physicians to run these same prescriptions through a pharmacist for approval or give pharmacist prescriptive authority instead. It makes a lot more sense than putting the manufacturers in charge of the asylum. I would be utterly embarrassed if a drug manufacturer had to tell me how to properly use a drug because I couldn’t get it right. I think the healthcare system has officially reached a new low. Unfortunately this ain’t no limbo contest.

  • Revisiting the idea of Shareable Ink

    EMR and HIPAA: “The interesting thing about Shareable Ink is that they provide such an interesting middle ground between a technical solution and continuation of paper. I remember about 5 years ago when I heard someone describe the perfect clinical documentation system. It was completely flexible. Required little to no training. Supported every possible documentation style. etc etc etc. Then, they acknowledged that what was being described was the paper chart. It was then that I recognized that while EMR can provide some benefits that paper charts can’t provide, paper charts also had some advantages that would be difficult to provide using an EMR.

    I think this background is why I found the Shareable Ink approach to documentation so fascinating. I really see it as an interesting way to try and capture the benefits of granular data elements and electronic capture of the data while still enjoying the benefits of paper.

    My simplified explanation of the Shareable Ink technology is as follows. You print out a form that you want to use for the patient visit. Each page that’s printed out has a unique background (although it just looks like a colored page to the naked eye). When you use the Shareable Ink pen to write on the printed out page, the pen uses a camera to record what you wrote on that page and where you wrote it. Then, once you sync the pen it recreates the document you wrote on in the system.”
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  • Taking a look at the new Lenovo X220t Tablet PC

    I purchased a Lenovo x201t Tablet PC back in November 2010. It’s been a great machine.

    The new x220t is every bit as impressive as the x201t, but has a slightly larger 12.5-inch Gorilla Glass touchscreen. In addition it has a new ThinkPad battery pack that should provide the user some serious portability without the need to continuously be tethered to a plug. I get about 5-6 hours of continuous use  on a single charge with my x201t extended battery pack. I expect the new x220t will get at least that. Throw in the new batter slice and users could potentially get up to 16 hours on a single charge. You simply can’t ask for more than that.
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  • Cool Pharmacy Technology – Codonics SLS Safe Label System

    Labeling syringes has always been difficult for anesthesiologists in the OR. It must be because they never seem to get it right. If you don’t believe me, just look at the image below. These drugs were found during routine inspection of an OR suite. Well that’s all changed now with the Codonics SLS Safe Label System.
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  • Coolest looking laptops on the market

    I have a thing for laptops and tablets, no question about it. Doesn’t matter who the manufacturer is, as long as it looks cool I’m drawn to it. It’s a good thing I don’t have unlimited funds or I’d have stacks of machines all over the house. While I’m not prejudiced against any particular laptop maker I am drawn to a certain style. For example, I like smaller laptops with screens typically less than or equal to 14-inch, and the thinner the better.
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  • Cleanrooms – the forgotten realm of acute care pharmacy

    Cleanroom environments, a.k.a. IV rooms, inside acute care pharmacies compound some of the most complex and dangerous medications used inside a hospital. Unfortunately this area is often overlooked when implementing safety features such as bar-code verification, identification of high-alert medications, advanced training and competency and so on. I was reminded of the dangers of intravenous products by a recent story coming out of Alabama where the death of 9 patients was linked to TPN (total parenteral nutrition) contaminated with Serratia marcenscens.

    While IV rooms remain a high risk area they tend to fall off the radar of many hospital administrators when it comes to implementing technology capable of reducing risk. USP <797> tends to get all the glory even though much of the guidelines proposed in this USP chapter have yet to be shown any more effective than diligent hand washing and impeccable technique.
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  • Healthcare is beyond repair, and I can prove it

    Before we begin let me get a few things out of the way. First, I am a healthcare professional. Yes, a pharmacist is a healthcare professional. Second, I’ve spent a large portion of my adult life working in the healthcare industry, both inpatient and out. This includes more than a decade working in a hospital as either a “staff” pharmacist or a “clinical” pharmacist. Third, the average person has no idea what goes on in a hospital or their physician’s office. A majority of people that are misdiagnosed, receive unnecessary labs, get the wrong drug, etc. will never know because they have no reason to think they’re getting anything but the best of care. And finally, I’ve been called a pessimist. I don’t see it that way, but I’m simply giving you all the data I have.
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  • When are you most creative?

    Recently I was asked to deliver a presentation at a conference coming up at the end of April. I don’t typically turn down opportunities to take a trip and talk about something of interest to me, so I agreed. The topic was in the neighborhood of my comfort zone, but not exactly on the same street if you know what I mean.

    I sat down and started putting the presentation together and realized I had no idea what I wanted to talk about or what direction I wanted to take the slides. The time seemed to drag on over a couple of evenings while sitting in my favorite creative spot in the house, i.e. sitting on the floor with my back against the couch in front of the TV. The problem wasn’t the desire, but rather the approach. It felt forced. It’s much easier to be productive when you have something in mind and are working toward that goal. Creativity on the other hand seems to flow when you give your brain some time to rest and focus not on the task at hand, but something you enjoy.

    Anyway, I forced myself to put the presentation aside and forget about it. Fast forward several days to the weekend and I’m sitting in a convention center in Sacramento watching my daughter’s cheer competition; nothing unusual about that. During a break in the action the MC was talking about something and made a small gesture with his hand. For reasons beyond my comprehension it sparked a thought that ended with me coming up with the content for the presentation I was working on. When I got back to the hotel that night I quickly hammered out the outline for the presentation and filled in the content a few nights later.

    What’s the moral of the story? It’s really quite simple: creativity isn’t something you can “think about” or force. It usually comes when you’re doing something you enjoy or when you take the time to quiet your mind. The typical work day is full of distractions that lead not to creativity, but productivity. As strange as that may sound it’s true. So I encourage everyone to take some time to simply “zone out” and let your mind wander. It’s worth it.

     

  • Touchscreen technology still rocks

    Earlier today I created a blog post about touchscreen technology for another website. While that piece was informative, it didn’t contain some of the cool stuff I found during my research.
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  • Epocrates Essentials for Android

    Epocrates Essentials is available for Android. I’ve never been a big fan of Epocrates and have always considered it a product for physicians and nurses. I consider Lexicomp to be the drug information of choice for pharmacists. I’d use Lexicomp on my Droid today if I were still a real pharmacist.

    Anyway, I was reading through the MedicalSmarphones.com website and came across the video below demonstrating Epocrates Essentials for Android. It’s pretty cool. I’d love to see it on a Samsung Galaxy Tab or Motorola XOOM. As far as that goes I’d love to see Lexicomp software on a Samsung Galaxy Tab or Motorola XOOM as well.