Technology

Pharmacy organizations and technology companies prepare emergency database to be ready for the next disaster

Link between IV pumps and medication errors prompt hospitals, health systems to reevaluate IV infusion

The ability of bedside bar-code administration and electronic MARs to catch adverse events and medication errors before they reach patients and then to generate reports and track emerging trends is revolutionizing the way that pharmacists, nurses, and physicians are managing patient safety concerns

SupplyScape, which provides electronic pedigree security, has lined up more than 50 customers in the three years it has been in existence.

E-record security; e-prescribing accreditation; bar codes smaller; Parata gets self-service player; new Cognitive label printer; automating preauthorization; Tenn. Medicare monitoring program.

The Medicare Modernization Act requires HHS to develop uniform standards for the electronic transmission of prescriptions.

As many as 100,000 patients die every year from hospital-acquired infections. It doesn't have to be that way. HAIs are eminently preventable. Tools exist that can significantly lower HAI mortality and morbidity rates and reduce an associated $6 billion in excess annual health costs.

Pharmacy OneSource has a new Web-based software, called Sentri7, that can monitor medication, laboratory, and patient data.

Now that we have electronic record technology, how should we set up a postmarketing surveillance system for drugs, biologicals, and medical devices?

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities of the future will look more like hotels or office buildings and less like the institutional and often inconveniently designed buildings that many think of today, said Greg Lasker, an assistant professor of building construction management at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. According to Lasker, Clarion North Medical Center in Carmel, Ind., is a precursor of what hospitals of the future will look like.

During the past 50 years, advances in technology have enabled pharmacists to become more efficient and more accurate during the typical day, while simultaneously giving pharmacy personnel more time to interact one-on-one with patients.

It may not be exactly the next Y2K, but analysts warn that few IT systems are prepared for the new Daylight Saving Time that will begin March 11, 2007, and end on Nov. 4. In 2005 Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, which changed the national dates for Daylight Saving Time. If system calendars are not reprogrammed, the new dates may play havoc with computer systems and disruptions at an IT infrastructure and application level are likely.

The notion of a fully integrated electronic healthcare record across the entire health system is no longer pie-in-the-sky thinking. In reality, however, few hospitals have attained that level of technology penetration. But for those that have, the benefits are immense.

Healthcare experts from two Michigan hospitals are helping the Food & Drug Administration find ways to prevent medical device errors. The FDA hired Beaumont Technology Usability Center (BTUC) late last year to help identify the causes of and risks associated with tubing and catheter misconnection errors. The move is part of an ongoing national effort by the FDA to closely monitor the safety of medical devices.

For years, industry experts have touted the advantages of e-prescriptions, hoping to reduce medical errors and increase efficiency, while at the same time auger in a new era of electronic medical records. Still adoption of e-prescription technology has lagged in the United States. While more than 90% of pharmacies have the ability to receive e-prescriptions, fewer than 5% of doctors have ordered a prescription electronically.

Hoping to facilitate the use of RFID (radio frequency identification) technology in medical devices, the FDA has published a draft set of rules and is asking for feedback from the healthcare industry. Comments must be submitted by April 2. One of the true advantages of RFID chips embedded in devices is that they can wirelessly communicate with distant readers and other devices, automatically conveying critical information. However, as the agency notes, the RF signals from one device can affect or interfere with the functions of other devices. The FDA hopes the draft guidance, which lays out the agency's regulatory requirements, will help manufacturers work together to avoid potential problems. The draft rules can be found at www.fda.gov/dockets/ecomments.

In a move that could significantly improve the monitoring and tracking of retail drugs, RFID (radio frequency identification) solution providers have developed an inventory tracking system for the pharmaceutical industry that uses ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tags.

Like it or not, health-system pharmacies are under tremendous pressure to perform at a high level. Addressing patient safety concerns, improving outcomes, implementing state-of-the-art technology, and keeping drug costs down requires a juggling act that pharmacists must perform on a daily basis.

The Internet has gained a great deal of notoriety for offering so much medical information that it is difficult to determine the good from the bad. Into that fray, two established sites are offering more resources on-line in an effort to educate pharmacists and patients alike. ASHP, for example, recently announced the launch of a Web-based resource center.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, every 31 seconds a limited-English speaker enters the United States. For the approximately 48 million residents who speak a language other than English at home, that language barrier looms large when they visit an emergency room or are admitted to a hospital.

When three infants died in September after receiving an adult dose of heparin at an Indianapolis hospital, patient safety experts pointed to the absence of bedside bar-coding-a technology they claim could have prevented the tragedy.

In an ongoing effort to boost the use of electronic medical records, technology vendors are finding more ways to make it easier for physicians to use them. Aiming directly at tech-savvy doctors, Zix Corp. has developed a new version of its PocketScript solution for smart phones-cell phones like Verizon's Samsung i730 Smartphone that also function as PDAs (personal digital assistants).

While the nation waits for the electronic health record (EHR) to become an everyday reality, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is pushing for widespread use of personal health records (PHRs), which are controlled by the consumer and include a medication history. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt recently accepted the first set of interoperability standards for PHR, hammered out over many months by the Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP).

A new software version for managing orders and calculations for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) compounding was released by Baxa Corp. in August. The company supplies about 70% of the nation's hospitals with automated TPN compounding products.

So you've decided to provide medication therapy management (MTM) services to your Medicare Part D patients. Which technological product should you use to document and bill for these services? "Technology plays a very significant role," commented Stefan Merlo, Pharm.D., manager of pharmacy practice and operations at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. "If pharmacies are not able to properly document and bill for their services, the process is not going to work."

Several dozen neuropsychiatrists and others, at a recent meeting in Washington, D.C., emphasized the need for a national postmarketing surveillance system for drugs. But how will the country move to such a system?

NeoFax recently released an updated version of software for the preparation of total parenteral nutrition solutions for neonatal infants. Named WebApp, the software's data are based on what company officials say is the most widely used neonatal drug manual in the world- NeoFax: A Manual of Drugs Used in Neonatal Care-first published nearly 20 years ago.

A new software version for managing orders and calculations for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) compounding was released by Baxa Corp. in August. The company supplies about 70% of the nation's hospitals with automated TPN compounding products.

So you've decided to provide medication therapy management (MTM) services to your Medicare Part D patients. Which technological product should you use to document and bill for these services? "Technology plays a very significant role," commented Stefan Merlo, Pharm.D., manager of pharmacy practice and operations at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. "If pharmacies are not able to properly document and bill for their services, the process is not going to work."

Debris, powder, loose pills, and broken capsules. The very real possibility of medication cross-contamination during automated pill counting is becoming an increasing safety concern. Manufacturers of the semi-automated and fully automated, or robotic, counting technology used in many retail and most hospital pharmacies say they consider cross-contamination a major issue. It's so important, in fact, that system design is used as a marketing tool in a highly competitive field.