Jerry Fahrni

Tag: Random thought

  • Foiled again!

    A couple of months ago I received an email from the ASHP Section of Pharmacy Informatics and Technology (SOPIT). It basically said, “hey dude, you’re a pharmacy informatics guy. You should throw your hat in the ring for a position on the SOPIT Executive Committee.” My initial reaction was to ignore it as these things never go well for me. My personality isn’t general suited for committee work. I know this.

    However, the issue wouldn’t go away. A couple of weeks later it popped up again as a friend and colleague shot me an email asking why I hadn’t completed the on-line biographical nomination form and upload my Curriculum Vitae for a position on the SOPIT Executive Committee. I gave the canned response that I wasn’t interested and that type of thing wasn’t for me. But the seed had been planted. About a week later I logged into the ASHP website and proceeded to jump through all the hoops associated with running for one of the positions on the executive committee. You know, lots of questions about how you would change the world and make it a far better pharmacy friendly place to live.

    Anyway, I was informed today via email that not only did I not get nominated for a position on the executive committee; I didn’t even make the cut to be included on the list of possible candidates. Ouch! Here’s the actual wording “The Section of Pharmacy Informatics and Technology’s Committee on Nominations met this month to develop a slate of candidates for the summer 2012 elections. We received many letters and nominations for the two offices of the Section. Unfortunately, we were not able to slate you for this year’s election. “ Doh!

    I won’t lie, my ego took a hit. Even though I’m generally not well suited to sit on committees I thought this would be cool. Should have gone with my gut and ignored the email. Humility is a good thing, but sometimes being humbled stings a bit. Better to think you turned them down than the other way around.

    I’ll eventually get over it. People are resilient that way. In the meantime I’m forming my own committee of which I will be the Executive Vice President; I’m not President material. Haven’t decided what the committee will do, but it must involve Diet Pepsi, popcorn and movies. If you’re interested in being on the committee let me know. Space is limited.

  • People are irrational

    Two disclaimers:

    1. To be absolutely clear, this is a rant. Sometimes I rant to my wife, other times on paper. This time I felt compelled to throw it up here.
    2. I’m a tablet PC fan, and this is my opinion. If you have an alternate opinion, that’s cool. If you want to talk about tablets with me, by all means let’s talk. I love it when people show me cool things they’ve done with their tablets. But if you want to argue with me about my opinion, fell free to stay away. People that want to counter my opinion with useless drivel tend to do nothing more than make me think less of them than I already do. And trust me when I say that I have a pretty low opinion of most people to start with. Not all people mind you, but many. It’s unfortunate I know, but society in general has done little to change my mind.

    Ok, let’s begin ….
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  • Don’t ignore the evidence for the sake of argument

    I regularly read a website called Medinnovation. It’s written by Dr. Richard Reece who tends to rant about healthcare in a refreshing way that you don’t often see online. He basically gives you his opinion with both barrels and it typically runs counter to what most people have to say. I like it.

    This morning (broke my rule about Sunday morning reading, Doh!) I read his latest post, Medical Experts and the American People. This is one time when I think he got it wrong. In the article Dr. Reece basically chastises evidence based medicine (EBM). “I say “presumably” because many patients or doctors do not necessarily buy the experts’ advice [i.e. evidence based recommendations] or follow instructions.” Uh-oh.
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  • Technology still can’t beat pen and paper

    I am a tablet PC guy, no question. My tablet of choice is the Levnovo x201t, but I’ve tried several and enjoy the constant hunt for a new one. I don’t travel with it much these days as I’ve grown tired of carrying multiple machines, dealing with security, etc. But when I’m at home my tablet PC is a workhorse. Between Microsoft OneNote and Evernote I’ve basically eliminated my need for a notebook. Or so I thought.

    For whatever reason I decided to take a long hard look at my note taking needs this week. I’ve been rather irritable lately and found myself nitpicking many of the cons associated with using a tablet PC for taking notes that I previously overlooked. The shortcoming of using a tablet PC are obvious: battery life, “boot time”, size and the mother of all….you can’t take notes on a tablet of any kind when it’s turned off, which has been a real issue for me while traveling.
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  • The insidious nature of ignorance and my curiosity

    There’s been a Tweet flowing through my Twitter stream for a few days now and I’ve avoided clicking on the link because I knew it would be something totally ridiculous, misleading and meaningless. Unfortunately it was a quiet Sunday morning, and while I sipped my coffee and waited for the rest of my household to come to life, I succumbed to human nature and clicked the link.

    Grrr! I knew it. Something totally ridiculous, misleading and meaningless. What was I thinking? Why do I torture myself this way? One can only speculate.

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  • Quick hit: Confusion over industry terminology

    I had an interesting conversation with a colleague earlier today. We were talking about a feature set for a new product that we have due out later this year. Some of the language being used to describe a certain feature, and how it would be used, was causing quite a bit of confusion for me. So I tried to clarify things a bit. After a brief email exchange it turned out that I knew exactly what he was talking about; healthcare and especially pharmacy simply use different words to describe the process.

    I recommended that we use the pharmacy specific lingo, but I was told no because it wasn’t the industry standard. I found that quite interesting because we build products for pharmacy, i.e. that is the industry we’re in. However, the terminology used for this particular process is different outside the pharmacy world. Still with me? Good.

    So, the question becomes does one conform to the terminology in the market segment you’re in, i.e. pharmacy, or do you ignore the pharmacy terminology and go with the “standard”? My gut reaction would be to go with the standard – after all I preach standardization all the time – however, if one does that you end up talking to pharmacy people that have no idea what you mean. You know, everyone has that deer in the headlights look with everyone standing around wondering what the heck is going on. And to top it off, no one asks for clarification because they’re afraid it might make them look stupid. We’ve all been there. I know I have.

    So, based on what I just said above I think you have to conform to the industry you’re in. In other words, use the pharmacy terminology, standard or not.

  • Quick Hit: The decision to be indecisive

    Have you ever had something on your plate that just won’t go away because someone is “thinking about it” or trying to “justify it”? Sure you have. I know I have. I always wonder what the person is thinking about when it takes months to make a decision. Doesn’t the information you have to make the decision become outdated when you wait that long? I for one, can’t think about anything that long because it gives me a headache. And sometimes you simply can’t justify something; it’s a leap of faith.

    One thing is for certain, if you’re waiting for the right moment, the moment will never come. Decisions don’t need to be right or wrong, they simply need to be made. Heaven forbid you make a bad call on something. I seriously doubt anyone has gone through life mistake free. If you never make a mistake you’re not trying hard enough in my opinion. Heck, I’d go as far as to say that some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned have been from my failures. Sure, the failures sting a little, but that’s what helps one learn from the process.

    I believe fear is the cornerstone of indecisiveness; fear of making the wrong decision. Choosing to not make a decision is, in itself, a decision. Unfortunately it’s a decision that people repeat time and time again without learning from the mistake of not choosing. The only way to learn to make good decisions is through the experience gained from making bad decisions. Kind of a circular argument, I know. Go figure.

    According to Albert  Camus “life is the sum of all your choices.” So what does that say about your life if you don’t make any decisions? Not much.

    As Staff Sergeant Nantz so eloquently put it in the movie Battle Los Angeles, “You can go right. You can go left. I don’t give a damn. Just make a decision”.

  • The e-patient movement, panacea or barrier to care?

    I haven’t really paid much attention to the e-patient movement, but recently it’s become a subject of interest.

    I Googled “epatient”, and here’s what I found: “e-Patients are health consumers who use the Internet to gather information about a medical condition of particular interest to them, and who use electronic communication tools in coping with medical conditions The term encompasses both those who seek online guidance for their own ailments and the friends and family members who go online on their behalf. e-Patients report two effects of their online health research: “better health information and services, and different (but not always better) relationships with their doctors.”” This definition comes from Wikipedia. I’m not a big fan of Wikipedia, but in this case it seems appropriate.
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  • Safety, privacy and UCSF Med Center’s failure to do the right thing

    I am a UCSF School of Pharmacy alum. I consider UCSF Medical Center, along with many other people, to be one of the best medical centers in the country. And, UCSF Medical Center saved my mother’s life with a liver transplant earlier this year. However, I am frustrated with UCSF Medical Center this morning.

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  • Year end thoughts 2011


    2011 brought many new and exciting changes not only in my personal life, but in the world of pharmacy and technology as well. I’ve learned many new things, gained some new skills, made some new friends, explored the world of pharmacy more deeply, traveled more than ever before and discovered that I once again know nothing. I am excited to see what 2012 has to bring.

    Below is a list of opinions I’ve gathered over the past 12 months. Some are pharmacy related, some are technology related, some are personal, and some are just random thoughts. If you don’t agree with my opinions that’s fine, but I don’t want to hear about it. On the other hand if you have something useful to add please feel free to leave a comment.

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