Lexicomp has a new Drug ID module for their suite of mobile applications.
New Drug ID mobile module! Video shows fast & simple interface that IDs loose drugs based pill & capsule features. http://t.co/GCBvOoi6af— Lexicomp (@Lexi_Comp) October 13, 2014
Based on the Tweet I thought the new application would identify “loose drugs” with the camera on a mobile device like Medsnap, but that’s not the case.
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I’ve been revisiting some of the pharmacy technology that I’ve covered over the past few years. Partly to see what advances have been made, if any, and partly to see if some of the smaller guys I’ve come across are still in business.
PlusDelta Technologies is an interesting little company that I discovered at the ASHP Summer Meeting in Denver in 2011. I was impressed with their vision, and with their use of mobile technology to track medications throughout the distribution process. At the time the company had a small suite of products, but as I sit here looking at their website it appears that they’ve whittled it down to just one: Pharmtrac.PD. Focus people, that’s called focus.
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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 below comes straight from Canada. My family and I spent a little time in Victoria, British Columbia this summer. What a beautiful place. It’s a great little town, and we were blessed with awesome weather. It was sunny and in the 70’s-80’s the entire time we were there. We spent some time milling around the town, rented a car and drove around the beach areas, and took a short trek to Butchart Gardens. I’m not a gardens-type of guy, but Butchart Gardens is really neat. We took a boat tour of the area and stayed for the fireworks show that took place late one night. Great memories. I would do it again.
Just a quick side note: this is the last coffee mug in my collection. Not sure what I plan to do for my next SMC. Any suggestions?
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Tablets are changing the way healthcare professionals practice medicine.
Purdue.edu: “Matthew Murawski, a Purdue University associate professor of pharmacy administration, created a new tool that presents patients with a five-question checklist that catches up to 60 percent of all known medication side effects….”This tool makes the few minutes available for counseling much more rewarding. The checklist results allow the pharmacist to immediately see side effects the patient is experiencing and target their time to solving these problems and improving the patient’s quality of life.” …Murawski’s method, named Pharmaceutical Therapy-Related Quality of Life or PTRQoL, began as paper checklists that took up multiple file folders behind a pharmacist’s desk.â€
Purdue University does some cool stuff around the practice of pharmacy. The only thing that makes me cringe is the line “patent pending†(approx. 1:05 into the video). Nothing that is developed utilizing University resources should ever be allowed to be patented. It should all be open source.
I came across this app the other day and thought it was pretty interesting. The app, MediSafe Medication Minder, is part of the MediSafe Project. The website isn’t very informative, but it’s worth checking out.
What’s the MediSafe app all about? Well, this pretty much sums it up: “It’s simple. When it’s time for you to take your medication, the app will remind you. You can also update your app manually. Your caretaker is notified if you don’t check in, so they can remind you only if needed.†The application also supports barcode scanning. Pretty cool stuff.
I’m not convinced that these apps work for everyone when it comes to improving medication adherence, but I think they have their place and should be an option for those that are comfortable using mobile technology.
You can grab it for free on Google Play. I think I’ll download it and give it a whirl.
In my opinion Lexicomp is still the gold standard for pharmacist drug references. I don’t use any of the Lexicomp references these days as I no longer have a need, but I used to use them all the time. I remember using Lexi-drugs on my Palm Pilot (actually a TRGPro) back in the day.  The reference went everywhere with me because my TRGPro was always in my pocket.
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With the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets these days it seems that pharmacy would finally come out of the dark ages and start using these tools to their benefit. I recently read an article at MEDCITY | News  that talked about the use of tablet technology for “teleroundsâ€.
Telerounds: The sexy idea is about providing a way for patients in a hospital setting to communicate with their physicians even when they are not at the hospital. An early version of the concept in 2005 took the form of physician robots on account of the tablet screens being attached to “robots†that move from patient to patient. A study conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers in 2005 met with positive feedback from patients and the Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan has been testing the concept with patients using iPads equipped with a Apple’s Face Time program, similar to Skype, in post surgery settings. On industry expert rattled off several reasons why it just isn’t practical right now. First, it would assume that surgeons are always available when the patient needs to speak to them. Current reimbursement models don’t support it. Most hospitals don’t grow iPads on trees for patients to use upon admission. It wouldn’t work with physicians since they could not be reimbursed. Still, it might work better when patients are discharged as a solution for providers trying to reduce readmission rates.
Android users rejoice. If you are an UpToDate subscriber, you now can download the new UpToDate Android app.
Description
Find clinical answers at the point of care or anywhere you need them! Now you can access current, synthesized clinical information from UpToDate® — including evidence-based recommendations — quickly and easily on your AndroidTM phone or tablet. This app is free to download. However, an individual subscription is required to log in and use it.
Features of UpToDate include:
• Persistent login
• Easy Search with Auto-complete
• Bookmarks and History
• Mobile-optimized Calculators
• Ability to earn CME/CE/CPD creditThis is the first public release of the Android app for UpToDate. Like the first UpToDate iOS mobile app, you need to login and you need an Internet connection. It is more convenient to have a native app rather than access UpToDate from the browser and you get more options than just the browser version. I suppose eventually UpToDate will release an “UpToDate Complete†for Android much like the iOS UpToDate Complete.
Update: It seems that this first release, although a free app, is available only to those who have access to the Google Play store in North America.
I’m sure by now everyone has heard of the Kindle Fire. If not just know that it is the 7-inch color media device from Amazon based on the Android operating system. The device has been uber popular to this point. It’s difficult to tell how popular exactly, but one thing is for sure, you know a device has gained some ground by the applications that get developed for it.
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Looks like the little elves over at AJHP have been busy making their journal easier to access from mobile devices. That’s pretty cool. I spent a few minutes playing around with the site on my Nexus and it worked well. I was able to pull up Implementing smart pumps for epidural infusions in an academic medical center and read through it without any major obstacles. The only recommendation I have for AJHP would be to make the process of logging in easier. The optimized site bounces you to the full blown web page for login. Overall, well done.
