Brand new tool for Veterans

Throughout the years, we have heard that veterans to not receive the care they need, even though most of the clinics have “state of the art” facilities. The VA system has been early adopter on electronic patient records among other types of technology that benefit both, the patient and the providers. The main complaint has been that VA centers are not strategically located and, therefore, veterans do not have proper access to the services offered. However, this is about to change.

The Department of Veteran’s Affairs will soon implement Telemedicine. With this concept they plan to reach to those veterans who cannot travel long distances to access the services of the VA clinics. Patients will have online visits with their primary care providers. They can discuss disease related problems, patients can receive advice and therapy changes among others. This will ensure continuity of care and better outcomes. The service will be available at first for states such as Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. For example, in the case of Nebraska, they will bring specialists from the Omaha VA center to help take care of oncology patients.

Without any doubt, this is a step forward in taking care of our veterans and doing what we can to ensure the best quality of life they can have. Veterans have dedicated their lives and effort to give us the quality of life we have today, lets do whatever we can to say thanks. As a student pharmacist, I think this is a great initiative that sets the example of another technology implementation aimed for the greater good. Lets hope we can see some implementations in the pharmacy field as well.

More information can be accessed at: http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=8A3D27B44940462DB3A7DD15EEAC1F4D.

Virtual Clinics are the present

Rite Aid pharmacy and OptimumHealth now offer to the pharmacy’s clientele a virtual clinic. With this service patients not only are able to ask questions about their treatment to doctors and nurses, they can also get full consultations and prescriptions when needed. At the end of the consultation, a file is created and can be shared with the primary health care provider to maintain good communication and ensure continuity of care. Rite Aid has become the first retail pharmacy to offer such service in the US. By paying a fee, the patient can benefit from this service.

Even though this may seem as a great advantage for the patients, as well as the pharmacy, one think keeps me wondering. How accurate can these interventions be if the doctor is not physically performing auscultation of the patient? To me this is an essentially good idea with a few flaws. I think is great that patients can have access to physicians too, besides the pharmacist. But I also think that patients can misunderstand the service and think of it as a substitute for primary care.

From my standpoint, I think Rite Aid Pharmacy is assuming a vulnerable position full of liabilities. By trying to expand the offerings to their patients, they are becoming even more prone to liabilities. This approach to technology implementation on patient care is, without any doubt, innovating and with the right implementation can be really useful and attractive to the public.

More information can be found on: http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=C5C3A0CF661C4C62B158CDF5351E414B

Podcasts... The new kids on the block

According to the definition, a podcast is a series of digital files that are released episodically. In the pharmacy profession, podcasts are used as a tool to make information accessible to pharmacists and students. Organizations like ASHP, and even the FDA and CDC, use podcasts to disseminate information. Most of the time, podcasts serve as a method to earn credits for CE. First, you watch the recorded lecture and then submit a quiz. If you ask me, this is a nice and convenient way to earn credits and at the same benefit from the information. For those of us who prefer to hear things out, this new way of find out information can become our best friend.

Weather is for credits or for looking for a specific topic to learn about, podcasts seem to be a great tool. The conveniences they offer to the healthcare professional, such as being able to pause at any time, make it an attractive resource.

Here are some places you can look for podcasts related to health care and some of them are even free.

1. http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/player.asp?f=9403

2. http://www.ashpadvantage.com/podcasts/

3. http://www.pharmacypracticenews.com/PodCastList.aspx

Health Information Technology… A must!!!

The results of a new survey about Health Information Technology (HIT) were published and are somewhat interesting. This survey was performed by the Premier Health Alliance and showed that 69% of the health care providers are making, or planning to make, their biggest investments on HIT.

If you are wondering why is this so surprising, let me explain. Everybody knows we are moving towards a technological era and that eventually everything will be digital, but how fast is this happening? Six months ago the same survey was performed and it was only 39% of the providers that were considering making such investments. It seems like the Government is pushing a little harder on the providers all of a sudden. With the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act/Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (ARRA-HITECH), the Government regulates reimbursements to providers. This means that if you do not have electronic records of your patients, you will not get paid.

Even though some people may argue that the economy is not strong and that it is unfair to make providers invest in such technology, we can’t miss the real target. Health care providers have a responsibility to their patients to offer the highest quality of service. By moving along with these changes, things such as coordinated services will run much smoothly and medication errors can be prevented.

It does not matter if the provider buys the most innovative technology or just what needs to comply with the regulations. What really matters is that HIT investments are a win/win situation for all parts included. I hope in the long run everyone sees this and that the authorities keep the best interests of the consumers in mind and not only their own.

More information can be found at: http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=738A7B85F16742B7AA6E47A7D864DB7A

Smartphones will have to be renamed…

As I was searching the web for new information regarding health informatics, I came across an article that showed a promising invention. Researchers in Switzerland created a new technology that combines the technology of smartphones with a device that will monitor the patient’s heart. Halter monitors will be a thing of the past. With the new technology the patient will wear on the belt a lightweight and small device that is connected to electrodes on the skin. The idea is to obtain around the clock monitoring of the patient’s heart. The information will be sent to the user’s smartphone and can be viewed in real time. Any abnormality will be sent to a doctor via email or text message.

We all know how complex it is to anticipate heart events. Probably, not every patient will want to wear this, but my guess is that high-risk patients have very little to think. It will be great for doctors to be able to check on their patients with real time readings and not just a test they will have when they no longer feel bad. Also, the fact that the information remains stored is excellent because, in case of an adverse event, it can be easily retrieved.

Even though the invention is focused more on the doctor-patient relationship, it can also be extrapolated to pharmacists. As part of MTM services, we request patients to bring their lab work. With this device we can view how the patient’s heart is working in real time, probably before the physician. Once again there has been proven that pharmacist have to assume an avant-garde position when it comes to technology, even if it was not initially intended for the use of pharmacy practitioners.

The word “smart” will fall short for applications like this. I think “genius” will be more appropriate, don’t you think?

Article can be found on: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/24/tech/mobile/heart-monitor-smartphone-app/index.html?iref=allsearch

Tiny Adults...

I know it has not been that long since my last posting, but I found some information I wanted to share with you. As I was going through my Twitter account, I found that Dr. Jerry Fharni posted an interesting link about pediatric dosing. The article stated that children are not “tiny adults”. It basically talks about how the operational systems used in the pharmacy and the third parties, treat children as tiny adults when it comes to calculate or approve adequate drugs. Also automated dispensing gets really difficult with parenteral medications.

As a student pharmacist, I understand the risk this implies in our line of work. It is clear that assertive clinical decisions are particularly important to avoid medication errors in children. Just like the article says, there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to children and computers try to do just that. It is important to maximize time and man-hours on every practice setting, but not at the risk of our patients. There is no room for error when it comes to children!!!!

Here is the link to the article in case you want to read it:  

http://rxinformati.ca/blog/48/15/Peds-are-not-tiny-adults-how-do-you-tell-a-computer-that/

MTM takes over

A couple of days ago I was watching the morning news on two different channels and saw the great job Walgreens is doing with marketing their Medication Therapy Management services in PR. In the Island, pharmacists have a very traditional look and patients tend to sponsor greatly the independent community pharmacies. They are trying to push this initiative and make people feel excited and learn about the greatness of MTM. As I was looking for more information on the topic, I found an article on The New York Times that shows this initiative is more like a nationwide campaign (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/business/at-walgreens-pharmacists-urged-to-mix-with-public.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=pharmacy&st=cse).

As a student, all I can say is that I hope all pharmacists, and the community in general, can benefit from Walgreens educational campaign. At the end it will result on improved medical outcomes and better quality of life for our patients.