Jerry Fahrni

Tag: Smartphone

  • Monday evening quarterback

    What a great weekend. The Super Bowl wasn’t a blowout and turned out to be quite exciting in the end. The commercials weren’t extravagant, but were surprisingly entertaining. The one downside was the absolutely embarrassing rendition of the National Anthem sung by Christina Aguilera. For all those would be National Anthem singers out there, please don’t add to or take away from the National Anthem. When you do, you’re doing nothing more than punching this great country of ours in the face.

    Anyway, here’s some other stuff I’ve found interesting over the weekend:
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  • Year end thoughts for 2010

    2010 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 social media more deeply, traveled more than ever before and discovered that I once again know nothing. I am more excited about next year than I ever thought possible.

    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.

    And here we go…
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  • The state of mHealth – a survey from research2guidance

    Over the summer I participated in research2guidance‘s online mobile health developers‘ survey.

    In total there were 231 participating companies ranging from start-up mHealth specialists to traditional healthcare market players.

    Basically the survey reveals that smartphothes, i.e. mobile devices, will have a significant impact on healthcare over the next few years. I don’t think anyone is surprised by this information, but it’s certainly nice to see validation in the form of a survey. Granted, surveys aren’t the best way to gauge whats happening in the market, but it’s better than nothing.

    Some of the results of the survey are:

    • Nearly 80% of respondents see diabetes as the therapeutic area with the highest business potential
    • Almost 70% of survey participants agree that app developers and agencies will be the main players in the market
    • Smartphone penetration is seen as the main driver for mHealth by 63% of respondents
    • Lack of standardization (50%), regulation (49%) and market transparency (49%) are the main barriers facing mHealth
    • Doctors and hospitals are seen as the best distribution channel for mHealth apps by 2015
    • Android and iOS will be preferred mobile platforms for mHealth solutions

    You can get a free copy of the basic results in the form of a whitepaper at the research2guidance website.

    A more detailed report called “Global mHealth Market Report 2010-2015” can also be found at the research2guidance website, but you’ll have to open up your checkbook. As a participant I received a dicount code for the full report (10% discount code: 3EEX8QH). Enjoy.

  • The Johns Hopkins ABX Guide now available for Android, let the party begin

    I received an email recently notifying me of the availability of The Johns Hopkins ABX Guide for the Android OS. I remember using the Hopkins ABX guide on my Palm Pilot many years ago. The website has always been a great source of information and having it in a mobile platform is great, especially for pharmacists.

    According to the email I received from the USBMIS Development Team: “The Johns Hopkins ABX Guide for Android continues to provide current, authoritative, comprehensive information on anti-microbial agents, infectious diseases, and commonly-encountered pathogens in one portable volume. Written by experts at the world-renowned Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, this must-have resource features expert recommendations, clinical anddiagnostic decision-making tools, and drug-to-drug interactions. Concise, thorough, and current, The Johns Hopkins ABX Guide, Mobile Edition is designed for quick reference and comprehension. Information is featured in an easy-to-access format that facilitates rapid application of knowledge at the point of care.”

    Click this link on your Android device or simply scan the QR-Code to the right to download The Johns Hopkins ABX Guide. The application used to be free, but now it’ll lighten your pockets a bit with a $25 price tag.

  • Medscape Mobile for Android on its way

    Medscape was one of the first online medical communities with a specific section for pharmacists. It was also the first online medical reference site I registered to use back in 1997.

    Anyway, Medscape Mobile has been available for the iPhone and BalckBerry devices for quite some time. I received an email today notifying me that it will soon be available for Android devices. This is exciting stuff.

    The email content can be seen below.

  • What’s the best mobile operating sytem for pharmacy?

    Mobile computing platforms have become somthing of a hot topic lately, especially in healthcare. What used to be something used almost exclusively by business people and gadget geeks is now mainstream among the average consumer. And to that end, mobile technology is starting to creep into the healthcare industry in large part due to the ever growing list of mobile devices, i.e. smartphones and tablets. Of course the iPad has been at the center of the discussion because it has been embraced by healthcare practitioners and has forced its way into many healthcare IT departments for better or worse. Not a day goes by now when I don’t see several physicians throughout the hospital carrying an iPad. Before the iPad it was the iPhone. See a trend here? I do.
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  • “What’d I miss?” – Week of October 10, 2010

    As usual there were a lot of things that happened during the week, and not all of it was pharmacy or technology related. Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found interesting. And yes, this is for the week of 10-10-10. Cool!
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  • Slow progress in pharmacy automation and stale technology creates ho-hum interest

    Recently I’ve been in bit of a blogging slump. The world of technology suddenly appears a little less exciting. In fact, I find myself thinking of current technology as boring. I read lots of blog posts and articles that refer to new technologies as “revolutionary”, but I haven’t seen much revolutionary technology lately. In fact, most of the new technology is simply an iteration of the same theme; or worse, recycling of an old theme.

    Consumer technology is clearly ahead of healthcare with the exception of scanning devices like MRIs, which are pretty cool when you stop to think about what they do. However, some of the most recently vaunted consumer technologies are devices aimed at information consumption like the iPad or devices designed to access data and social media while on the go, i.e. the new crop of smartphones. It’s not really new technology per se, but rather a new application of already available technology.
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  • “What’d I miss?” – Week of June 20, 2010

    As usual there were a lot of things that happened during the week, and not all of it was pharmacy or technology related. Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found interesting.
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  • Top blog posts and searches from last week (25)

    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. Cool Technology for Pharmacy – RxVerify – RxVerify is a neat piece of software that fits a nice little niche.
    2. Cool Technology for Pharmacy – This was 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.
    3. Best iPhone / iPod Touch Applications for Pharmacists – As I’ve said before, just throw any Apple product in the post and it’s bound to get some hits.
    4. 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 September 10, 2009 and covered the capsule machine.
    5. Medscape Mobile for the BlackBerry – Looks like interest in Medscape Mobile for the BlackBerry devices is starting to slip. Still, it’s amazing that this post stays on the list.
    6. Cool Technology for Pharmacy – Practice Fusion EMR – Great piece of software.
    7. Curriculum Vitae
    8. Bar-code musings
    9. Quick update: Pharmacy iPad use – What the heck is an iPad, anyway?
    10. Scanning difficulties with certain barcodes – I received some great feedback on this information

    Top searchterm phrases used over the past 7 days:

    1. “alaris pump“
    2. “transparency” – Interesting, I’ve never talked about transparency in healthcare.
    3. “jerry fahrni“
    4. “black cloud”
    5. “cloud computing cartoon”
    6. “fenton capsule“
    7. “alaris iv pump“
    8. “bcma and iv interoperability“
    9. “va hospital with rfid scanner“
    10. “ipad pharmacy applications“