“Never tell your problems to anyone…20% don’t care and the other 80% are glad you have them.†– Lou Holtz
So much happens each and every week that 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….
Got a chance to see the new Anesthesia Check system from KitCheck while at ASHP Midyear. The system is designed using RFID and bar code technologies to provide safety for syringe labeling in the operating room (OR), as well as chain of custody and waste tracking for all medications used by anesthesia during surgery.
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You can add another player to already crowded IV workflow management system space.
I heard a rumor that CareFusion had some new technology in their booth at ASHP Midyear this year. Since I’m at ASHP Midyear I decided to wonder over there to take a look, and lo and behold they did indeed have some new stuff. One of the things that caught my eye was their new IV room system.
The system is like many that I’ve seen, complete with camera and barcode scanning for IV medication preparation. I didn’t have much time to evaluate the system, and it’s virtually impossible to do so in the span of a short demo, but overall the Pyxis IV system hits all the major safety checkpoints for this kind of stuff.
CareFusion is playing things pretty smart by moving into the IV room. They’re taking a broad approach to managing the entire inpatient pharmacy, i.e. they now have products that cover medication distribution from back door to the patient, including both IV and non-IV medications. Well played.
So what’s the over-under on how long it will take Omnicell to build or buy an IV room system?
From the CareFusion newsroom:
While the greatest percentage of a hospital pharmacy budget is the cost of IV medication, it is estimated that fewer than 10 percent of hospitals use automation within their IV room where infused medication is compounded. The new Pyxis IV system* helps standardize the workflow in the central pharmacy IV room to securely manage a closed-loop pick, prep and check process, while driving efficiency in pharmacy activities. This standardization also helps improve the accuracy and error rate reduction of the IV compounding process, as well as free up pharmacy staff to redeploy to clinical activities. The new Pyxis IV system consists of monitors in the IV room that walk clinicians through each compounding step. The system organizes all similar orders and recommends the proper vial size to use when compounding to help minimize waste. The system also has video cameras to record compounding components to help facilitate remote checking by a pharmacist, which saves time by eliminating the need for clean room entrance and exit processes
“There is never a better measure of what a person is than what he does when he’s absolutely free to choose.” – William M. Bulger
So much happens each and every week that 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….
LIFE: “President Franklin Roosevelt declared December 7, 1941 — when Japan launched more than 350 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes against the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii — a “date which will live in infamy.†In fact, that Sunday morning is so seared into America’s memory that the tumult of the critical weeks and months afterward, as the U.S. responded to the attack, is often overlooked. Here, on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, LIFE.com presents photos — most of which never ran in LIFE magazine — from Hawaii and the mainland, chronicling a nation’s resolute reply to an unprecedented act of war.†– Some amazing photos here. Roosevelt’s speech can be found here. I had an opportunity to visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial a few years ago. It was an amazing experience. One that is difficult to explain, but easily understood once you’ve experience it.
I’ve just returned from a week in Las Vegas, NV at ASHP Midyear 2012. The ASHP Midyear conference is the pinnacle of clinical meetings each year for most acute care pharmacists. For me it’s not that interesting anymore as I don’t attend as a pharmacist. It just more work days for me; long work days. I didn’t attend a single “sessionâ€, but did manage to find some time to walk through the exhibit hall once and catch up with some old friends.
Enough of that, on with the thoughts:
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So much happens each and every week that 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 coffee mug to the right is from Denver, Colorado. I have been in Denver twice now, once in the summertime and once in the late fall/early winter. It’s a nice place, but not what you’d expect. Well, at least it’s not what I expected. With a nickname like “Mile High†I expected to be going up and down mountainous roads all the time. Not the case. It is much more flat than I expected. The downtown area has a small town feel to it, and the the 16th Street outdoor mall area was very nice. I found a lot of cool things to do down there in the evening. I also found the Mellow Mushroom pizza joint. Dude, that was some seriously good pizza. One thing is for sure, the views were spectacular. I ended up on the 9th floor of one of the hotels I was in. Outside my window was a picturesque view of show capped mountains and green trees. Overall it’s a nice place to visit. Word of caution though about the airport, it’s a mess at times. I’ve only been through there a dozen or so times and have gotten burned on a few occasions. Consider yourself warned.
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The ASHP Midyear 2011 Conference basically concluded for me today. I’d like to evaluate the meeting, but honestly have very little to say. This was my first year working in the role of Product Manager for a vendor, and not acting as an “attendeeâ€, i.e I was here for work. The conference took on an entirely different feel this year as I wasn’t able to attend any of the sessions. For the most part I was stuck in the company booth playing the role of demo jockey. It was a strange feeling to say the least. I tried to follow the Twitter stream (#ashpmidyear) a bit, but finally relented and gave up.
It’s been a busy week, and pretty much all my attention was focused on the ASHP Midyear event in Anaheim, California. Of course as a pharmacist that’s where my focus should have been, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the world stopped moving. Here are some of the things I found interesting this week:
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Here I sit in the airport on my way home as another great ASHP Midyear has come to a close. This feels strangely familiar.  Anyway, the end of the Midyear meeting is always bittersweet. I’ve taken in about all the information my brain can possibly handle, but each day at Midyear brings something new and exciting, which I will miss. Many attendees departed prior to the final sessions today so it was a virtual ghost town compared to the previous days of the event. The exhibit hall was closed, the small stands for food and drink were gone, the line for coffee was non-existent and session attendance was clearly affected. With all that said, it was still worth hanging around for the final session. Huh, I had to, I was presenting at it; more on that later.
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Ah yes, another day of ASHP Midyear is in the books and it just keeps getting better with each passing day. Today was probably the busiest day I’ve had since arriving on Saturday, and it went something like this:
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