I used a telemedicine service for the first time and loved it

My daughter woke the other morning with the following complaints: itchy eye watery eye “feels like there’s sand in my eye” and from my observation, redness in the “white” of her eye Hmm, I’ve seen this before. My initial thought was conjunctivitis, a.k.a. “Pink eye”.  I called our family pediatrician looking for something to hold us … Read more

Keeping up with the Joneses, or how pharmacies choose technology

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

Saturday morning coffee [August 2 2014]

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC – 531 BC)

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 is relatively new. I picked it up in Las Vegas at M&M World during one of my daughter’s volleyball tournaments earlier this year.

Yellow M&M Mug

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Desire to see more collaboration between pharmacies and local universities

Bitwise Industries in Fresno is an interesting place. It’s basically a tech hub pulled together by some great local minds. Located in a nice little area in downtown Fresno, BitWise has tasked itself with taking “a burgeoning tech industry that was growing in silos in California’s heartland, add places that inspire community, collaboration, and growth, create accessible education that equips and empowers a homegrown army of technologists, deploy talent to execute technology success stories”. I visited the facility with my brother, Robert when it first opened. Impressive and inspiring.

But this post is not about BitWise. It’s about something I’ve been thinking about for a couple of years. BitWise was simply a catalyst to remind me to revisit my idea.

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Moving from the Motorola Moto X to the Samsung Galaxy S5

s5_blackA short time ago I was an unwilling participant in my Moto X being dropped on a concrete floor.

Over the past year or so I’ve been working with a colleague on a book about the state of automation and technology in pharmacy IV rooms. During this time I’ve made several site visits to acute care pharmacies to look at the technology, workflow, etc in their IV rooms. As part of the data collection process I not only take a lot of notes, but snap lots of photos and record video of technicians working with the technology. I find the photos and video invaluable when reviewing my notes.

Prior to entering the cleanroom at one large hospital back east, the pharmacist in charge insisted that he wipe down my Moto X with alcohol. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but it was either let him do it or not take it in. I opted to let him wipe it down. During the process he dropped my Moto X. It hit the concrete floor pretty hard and bounced. The back popped halfway off. Not good. Since that time my Moto X has been acting weird, freezing up, not taking voice commands, and so on. I finally decided to replace it through the insurance I carry on the device.

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New Questions for Pharmacists in the Health Care System [article]

Am J Pharm Educ. 2014;78(2)1: “The pharmacy profession is determining how it will become a vital part of new health care models such as accountable care organizations (ACOs) and patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs). Pharmacists must be prepared to demonstrate their value in these emerging health care models by improving the quality of care, reducing health … Read more

Is pharmacy informatics defined well enough to be a specialty?

Pharmacy informatics remains in its infancy as a profession. What started out as a job for tech-savvy pharmacists with working knowledge of pharmacy has turned into an ever expanding career field. I’m looking through the ASHP Summer Meeting Informatics Institute schedule and the topics are varied. I see something on human factors, information management, clinical … Read more

5 Shady Ways Big Pharma May Be Influencing Your Doctor

AlterNet: “When it comes to acknowledging the influence of gifts and money on behavior, doctors, like everyone else, suffer from self-delusion. Most say they believe it affects the other guy, not them, and many become offended at the idea that they are “for sale.” Trips to resorts and strip clubs will likely continue to diminish … Read more