Medication Error in Hospital

Hospitals seek Rx for human error: Better technology, clearer communications may help eliminate problems cited in recent report

Verbal order misunderstandings? Sound-alike drug errors? These certainly ring a bell to Pharmacists. Nothing in the article is surprising. We read about these types of errors all the time. The question is can technology prevent them? Do we trade off one error type for another with the adoption of technologies?

Telepharmacy Proposal Request D--The TRICARE Management Activity(TMA)is conducting research to determine whether a commercial system is available to meet requirements of a Department of Defense(DoD)Telepharmacy solution(DoD Telepharmacy)for the Military Health System(MHS). I recall talks when I was in the Military. Basically they are looking for a video teleconferencing system that integrates with automation/dispensing technology. This allows a pharmacist at site A to check an RX that is 500 miles away that a technician filled, by reviewing a scanned image of the hard copy and seeing the pills in the bottle.

Sun Offers Item-Level RFID for Pharmaceuticals

It will be very interesting to see where the Pharmacy Industry takes advantage of RFID. The technology is still too expensive for strict inventory management (down to the bottle). Pharmaceutical manufacturers may have the most short term success.

Yet another example of how technology can help providers in everyday practice. This tool was from TheraDoc, well known for their professional staff and clinically related products. PDAs were used to help with antibiotic choices. The study was a bit bias, as the providers were paid for using the PDA if they found it inconvenient. In the end, only 1/2 of them used the PDA exclusively.

I think this project really missed the main theme: a comprehensive and integrated electronic healthcare record and prescribing system.

Medicare.gov Plan Tool

The Center for Medicare Services just announced a new internet based tool to help beneficiaries choose a prescription drug plan. I am sure I will be helping my parents through this online process, even though they have DSL. They are not computer savvy, but I shudder to think about those with less computer use.

DailyMed

The FDA has launched a new website at the National Library of Medicine to help keep updated information on drugs available to consumers.

This is probably a good move. The pharmaceutical manufacturers have been asked to provide the information electronically to the FDA, and keep it updated. We will see how this goes. With all the black box warnings coming out as of late, it will be a full time job to keep up with.

It is really just the package insert, or very similar. I hope the FDA makes the information consistent.

Controlled Substance Ordering System Homepage

This sounds like a great idea. The systems allow users to throw out those pesky 222C forms and do it all online. So what happens if you internet connection dies half way through your order? Do you have to enter everything again? I hope not. Share your experiences. We are registering as we type.

Report: Health Care IT Market Looks Fit

I am feeling pretty good about my career decisions right about now....

The article mentions that most of the spending is coming from hospitals at this point in time. I am curious to see how the ambulatory market matures with discharges happening more expeditiously. In 10 or so years, the ambulatory IT market could outpace hospitals. The message here is to keep both on your radar, and develop solutions for each.

Let us not forget that just because an IT solution presents itself, it may not necessarily be the best answer for your problem.

Hospitals Save Costs, Time with Wireless Tags

RFID (radio frequency identification) tags capitalize on the utilitarian concept of asset management. In this article, hospitals are using them to keep up with mobile equipment, such as infusion pumps or medication carts. There is a bright future for RFID tags in pharmacy. However, currently the price of the tags limits the pharmacies ability to utilize them for inventory management and tracking. RFID could potentially replace the barcode scanning technologies that we use for patient safety.

How many technology products or services have you implemented without measuring a current baseline?

We are all guilty of pushing this necessary step to a low position on the priority list. As a result, we really have no way to measure how well an IT or automation system improves current processes.

Do you have an application that you think costs your more time now that before you had it? Sure you do. I think the real question is why does this happen, and what should we do to prevent it in the future. Please allow me to touch on a few important considerations.

1. We must make baseline measuring a priority for a number of reasons. Take the time to identify the qualitative and quantitative measures the information system could impact. After identification, draft a measurement plan and assign a member of your team to measure and collate the results. We are looking for apples to apples comparisons. For instance, if I purchase a new inventory storage system measurements could include the current time and error rates of picks for replenishment. Then we can measure the same criteria after implementation. Now we have a measurement, and opportunity to present a positive ROI (return on investment).