“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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PRWeb: “CaroMont Health (formerly Gaston Memorial Hospital) became the first hospital in North Carolina to adopt Kit Check™for hospital pharmacy kit processing.
CaroMont Regional is a 435-bed, not-for-profit general and acute care facility. Kit Checkâ„¢ provides cloud-based software that leverages RFID technology to reduce pharmacy kit replenishment from an average of 30 minutes to 3 minutes. CaroMont installed Kit Checkâ„¢ in mid May and after 10 weeks of operation has already tagged and tracked more than 10,000 medications used in 206 emergency pharmacy kits.â€
I know some pharmacists at CaroMont. They’re good people and are always looking for a way to utilize technology to improve operations.
I wrote about Kit Check back in January 2012. I’m a big fan of using RFID technology to manage niche items like medication trays. It makes sense to me. Barcoding works, but sometimes it’s just easier to use technology like RFID.
Is RFID the future of heathcare? I don’t know, my crystal ball recently stopped working. The technology itself is quite mature, but hasn’t really caught on in healthcare. With the advent of smartphones and tablets with built-in NFC technology I have to believe that some innovative company will take the queue and continue to develop the concept.
Things I’ve written about RFID can be found here.
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….
Welcome to April 2013 everyone. The year is flying by.
The coffee mug to the right comes straight from Alien Fresh Jerky in Baker, CA. Baker is small town located near the Nevada border. The population is less than a thousand people, but they do have the worlds tallest thermometer, and of course Alien Fresh Jerky. My family and I drive right past Baker, CA every time we head to Las Vegas. I’ve seen the Alien Fresh Jerky sign a hundred times, but for one reason or another had never pulled in for a visit. This time I decided to swing in and take a look. Turns out that it was a good decision. Not only did I pick up a coffee mug, but I purchased some seriously good jerky. I’m a traditional kind of guy so I stuck with the beef in two flavors: Honey Teriyaki and their Road Kill Original. Great tasting jerky. Oh, I’d recommend staying away from their “Invisible Jerky”, it just doesn’t fill you up like the others.
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A link to the video below was left in the comment section of my recent ASHP Midyear 2012 post. The video features a SencorpWhite RFID MiniVert Carousel. Pretty cool use of RFID technology. Where would something like this fit in a pharmacy? Not really sure, but I can think of a few use cases that would make sense.
From the SencorpWhite site:
In the pharmacy setting, the integrated RFID provides two distinct operations –real-time put-and-pick verification and cycle counting –and so, the MicroVert allows stock transactions to be securely and accurately monitored without operator intervention. In addition, inventory can be audited on-demand in as little as 30 seconds.
I came across this press release yesterday. The press release is from Health Robotics, a company that builds and distributes automation and technology aimed squarely at the I.V. room. Their product line includes several robots designed for specialized I.V. room compounding, including i.v.STATION ONCO, i.v.STATION, CytoCare and TPNstation.
It looks like the company is taking advantage of recent events surrounding sterile I.V. preparation to promote the safety of robotic compounding. They will be presenting data from recent studies from various hospitals across U.S. This all makes sense. But what I found interesting was the quote from Gaspar DeViedma, Health Robotics’ EVP.
“… I invite all ASHP attendees to compare and contrast our company’s track record now yielding streamlined robotic “live” installations within 60 to 90 days from purchase order; new RFID solutions tracking temperature-controlled I.V. doses from the offsite sterile compounding sites to the hospital pharmacies, on to delivery carts and refrigerated cabinets and all the way to the patient; and finally to witness the new standards in Chemotherapy and Monoclonal Antibody Therapy IV Automation.”
The emphasis is mine. That part about RFID almost slipped past me when I first read it. RFID is gaining popularity in the pharmacy world. Health Robotics certainly has my attention. I’m curious to see what they’re up to. I hope to have an opportunity to visit their booth at Midyear. I’ll keep you posted.
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 part of the “Indivisible†project from Starbucks. “America is about opportunity. About liberty and justice. About a job for every woman and man who wants one. Right now, these jobs aren’t out there, but we believe we can all help change that. When you buy this mug, you help too. Two dollars from the sale of each mug goes directly to Opportunity Finance Network® and the Create Jobs for USA Fund†I don’t buy much from Starbucks because I don’t like their coffee, but it’s my fallback position when I’m desperate. When I saw the mug it reminded me of the iconic symbol of pharmacy, i.e. the mortar from pharmacies famous mortar and pestle. I can’t remember where I picked it up, but I was on the road somewhere because I remember having to stuff it in my carry-on bag to get it home.
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I came across this presentation while surfing the SlideShare superhighway of information. It gives a nice little overview of both RFID and NFC technologies, including hardware, software, and potential uses. It also provides information on how to use the Android SDK to build NFC enabled applications. Thinking about giving it a go.
The video below gives a brief overview of Cubixx and myCubixx from ASD Healthcare, an AmerisouceBergen Specialty Group. Cubixx is a large RFID refrigerator solution like you’d see in a pharmacy, and myCubixx is its little brother that is used by patients as a personal RFID controlled refrigerator at home. Pretty cool concept.
This is pretty cool use of RFID technology. The concept isn’t new to me, but it is the first time I’ve seen it in practice. The ability to track lot and expiration in real-time is a great advantage when compared to barcoding.
RFID Journal: “The pharmacy department of the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), a 750-bed hospital located in Baltimore, is employing an RFID-based solution to aid in the stocking of medication kits transported around the hospital for use with patients in the event of emergencies. Thanks to the technology, provided by RFID startup firm Kit Check, the hospital knows what was loaded onto each tray to form a crash-cart kit, as well as which medications were used and which are approaching their expiration dates. In addition, the facility has reduced the amount of time employees must spend loading each emergency medication tray, from approximately 20 minutes down to less than 5 minutes.â€
