Jerry Fahrni

Tag: Pharmacy Informatics

  • AJHP abstracts available for Kindle

    I was pleasantly surprised today when I read my ASHP NewsLink and found the following tidbit:

    “Download AJHP Abstracts to Kindle Reader – Users of the Kindle wireless reading device, from Amazon.com Inc., can now automatically download abstracts of AJHP articles as they become available.”

    AJHP abstracts are delivered directly to the Kindle e-reader via Amazon’s Whispernet for a monthly subscription of $1.99. However, details are a little sketchy as there is limited information available at the Amazon website.

    It’s nice to see AJHP embracing digital technology. It’s a little late in the game and only abstracts are currently available, but it’s clearly a step in the right direction. Hopefully this is the first of many new digital offerings from AJHP and ASHP. I would eventually like to see AJHP journal articles available in their entirety for all digital readers. Articles are currently available for download in PDF format, but that’s really not the same as having a document formated for use on an e-reader.

    Additional information can be found at the Amazon website here.

  • Top blog posts and searches from last week (27)

    I always find it interesting to see what brings people to my website and what they decided to read once they get here.

    Most read posts over the past 7 days:

    1. An almost disastrous bar-coding mishap
    2. Cool Technology for Pharmacy – Post from before I started putting the name of the cool technology in the blog title. This particular post was from September 10, 2009 and covered the capsule machine.
    3. Cool Technology for Pharmacy – Another post from before I started putting the name of the cool technology in the blog title. This particular post was from June 18, 2009 and covered Alaris Smartpumps.
    4. Best iPhone / iPod Touch Applications for Pharmacists
    5. Quick Hit – Mobile devices in our pharmacy – This post elicited a couple of interesting comments.
    6. Curriculum Vitae
    7. “What’d I miss?” – Week of June 27
    8. Cool Technology for Pharmacy –NDC Translator
    9. About -People checking up on me.
    10. Motion J3500 gets a wicked update – People are still interested in tablet PCs, even with that other device grabbing all the press.

    Top searchterm phrases used over the past 7 days:

    1. “ feton capsule filling machine ”
    2. “ alaris pumps ”
    3. “ cerner and pandora data systems ”
    4. “ dell xt2 ”
    5. “ alaris pump ”
    6. “ capsule machine ”
    7. “ alaris infusion pump ”
    8. “ pharmacokinetics iphone ”
    9. “ free lexi-drugs windows mobile free ”
    10. “cloud computing”

  • Using the big boys to search for consumer health information

    I’m sure you’ve heard people say “just Google it”. Not only have I heard the phrase, but I’ve used it myself. But how do search engines like Google and Bing work for health related information? Out of simple curiosity I spent a few minutes with Google and Bing to find out.
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  • What’s the lifespan of a tablet PC in use by pharmacists?

    In early September last year (2009) our hospital purchased some Dell XT2 tablets for me to roll out to the pharmacists; I got mine at the same time. My XT2 has performed pretty well for the most part with only an occasional glitch here or there. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the tablets in use by the pharmacists on the nursing units.

    Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had several complaints from the pharmacists; blue screens, lost wireless configuration, loss of bezel button functions, inability to rotate the screen when in slate mode, etc. Today the ICU pharmacist dropped off his tablet in my office because none of the buttons along the outer bezel would work (CTRL, rotation and tools buttons). It turned out to be an issue with the drivers, but what caught my attention was the condition the poor tablet was in. It’s only been in use for just over 6 months and it looks pretty beat up. Apparently the XT2 isn’t designed to take the rigors of a pharmacists daily routine.

    With all the iPads we have running around our hospital now it got me wondering how they’re going to hold up once we start pounding on them day in and day out. I’m guessing not well. I suppose no device is perfect as is so eloquently described by James Kendrik at jkOnTheRun, but I don’t mind saying that I’m more than a little concerned. Oh well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

    Just in case you were wondering, the Motion J3400 used by the pediatric pharmacist has held up much better and is still in good shape. That’s something to keep in the back of my mind for the future.

  • Time to nominate someone for the ASHP PPMI Summit

    I briefly touched on the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) last week. As part of the initiative ASHP will be holding a PPMI Summit in Dallas, Texas, November 7-9, 2010 where a lot of brilliant minds will come together to work towards advancing pharmacy practice.
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  • Speaking of healthcare data, is Microsoft the elephant in the room?

    In a previous blog I discussed the need for a uniformed data structure in healthcare. The concept got me thinking about how to accomplish such a monumental task, and make no mistake, it would be a monumental task. There aren’t many “people” out there that could develop the hardware and software infrastructure solid enough to handle the needs of the complex data stream coming out of the healthcare industry.

    Then I noticed a trend at a lot of the web sites that I frequent: Microsoft has slowly, and quietly, been positioning itself to jump into the healthcare market.
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  • Time for a new model of data storage and software distribution in pharmacy

    There was a time when I thought all a pharmacist needed to do his job was a pen and a calculator. It was just so cumbersome to carry anything else. If you wanted to have mobile drug information it meant carrying a drug reference book with you everywhere. Who can forget being in pharmacy school where every self respecting pharmacy student had a Drug Information Handbook stuffed in their lab coat pocket along with all the other stuff they carried like a homemade peripheral brain scribbled on the pages of a notebook or on those neat little 3×5 cards.
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  • Will hype for iPad in healthcare translate into benefits for pharmacy?

    Unless you’ve been comatose for a while, you’ve certainly heard about the Apple iPad. The device has already been crowned the de facto device for everything from e-reading to creating a new wave in healthcare unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Of course this is all speculation as the device hasn’t been officially released yet.

    Many people have speculated that the iPad will be a great device for healthcare. Whether or not that will be the case remains to be seen. One thing is for certain: everyone is banking on the iPad being a big hit in healthcare. Based on the success of the iPhone as a favorite among physicians and nurses, this certainly isn’t a wild prediction. Will this success translate to the pharmacy? Good question.
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  • What is the future of pharmacy informatics as a career choice?

    Over the weekend I spent a little time looking at trends in pharmacy and technology. As expected the healthcare technology market is expanding rapidly and this expansion is creating a need for pharmacists with technology know-how. To prove my point I created a job trends graph from indeed.com using the following search criteria: “pharmacy informatics”, “clinical pharmacist” and “director of pharmacy”. As expected the search trends for “clinical pharmacist” and “director of pharmacy” are relatively flat, but the trend line for “pharmacy informatics” is striking. It looks like a new pharmacy career path is born.

  • Pillbox – a website for tablet/capsule identification

    The National Library of Medicine has a website know as Pillbox beta that allows anyone to use various identifiers on a tablet or capsule, i.e. imprint, shape, color, size and/or scoring, to quickly identify a medication. I’ve used systems like this many times for the emergency department when a patient would roll in the door with ten different medications all thrown together in a plastic baggie. The nurse would bring them to the pharmacy and say “I need you to tell me what these are”. I tried holding the baggie to my head like the Great Carnac on Carson, but most of the time I had to use other references to help me out.


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