Saturday, October 23, 2010

IPhone = wireless medical device?

I’m not an iPhone user, but amazed by the huge number of unique medical applications designed for iPhone. The iphone have various applications that that can assist someone with medical diagnostics or healthcare maintenance, keep track of medical information, and can even communicate with a physician.  I wonder if the iPhone will be considered as a medical device. According to the FDA, “a medical device is an implementation, product, apparatus or other component or accessory, which is used in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, prevention of disease or affects any structure of the body.”  That could actually include information technologies and performance technologies since it’s something that is performed on the patient, touches the patient or is performed between physician and patient. Since the FDA has jurisdiction over any device that diagnoses, treats or prevents a disease, the FDA could possibly consider iPhones to be wireless medical devices in the future. Today, iPhone doesn’t meet that definition as a standalone device. But, I would like to know what do you think? Should the FDA have some regulatory jurisdiction over healthcare application developed for the iPhone?

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Mobile Health Applications


More and more incredible mobile health applications and solutions have been coming to the market so I thought I would share some of these in this post. For example,  iBreath is an app for iPhones that allows users to take an alcohol breath test. Using devices like the iBreath can help prevent you from making a serious mistake in judgment. Well, I was reading an article about a new Plug-In glucose meter, iBGStar, for the iPhone. The iBGStar is designed to allow you to keep track of blood glucose, carbs intake and insulin dose, and manage your diabetes in real time. It connects directly to your iPhone or iPod touch. In addition, the iBGStar Diabetes Manager App will allow data to be easily managed and communicated to healthcare professionals. The device is approximately $80. There is no FDA approval yet though as the iPhone is not considered a medical device.
Another cool app for the iPhone is eRoentgen Radiology DX. It  can provide  physicians with a fast way to determine which radiology test is best for a given patient. Roentgen Radiology DX contains a large database of signs, symptoms and diagnoses that can make quick assessments as to which radiology exam is most appropriate. The convenience of using the eRoentgen makes it a valuable tool for health care professionals. Below are some screenshots for the application to see how it works.
And last by not least, a new application for the iPhone has been designed to aid people with poor hearing. The app amplifies everything that is being heard by the microphone and allows the user to set which frequencies to boost and which to filter. It can even replay the last five to thirty seconds of a misheard conversation. This is great for people that are hearing impaired along with others that will become hearing impaired.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Interesting Gadgets


I spent a little time looking at trends in pharmacy and technology and here are some of the things I found on medgadget.com.
Smarter Pill Bottle Caps

The pharmacy bottle sized cap keep track of when it’s opened and closed. The bottle cap glows when you need to take your medication if you forget. It has been showed to improve daily medication compliance by patients. Here is how it works. When you forget to take your pill, the pharmacy bottle sized caps will remind patients to take their medication by blinking light or playing a regularly repeating ring tone until the cap is opened. In addition, the bottle cap will also send you emails every time you need to take a pill and a monthly report in the mail on how you did. GlowCaps sale at a price $99 and includes the cost of 2G connection. To see a Vitality GlowCaps Demo, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qf7PxbL9ag
onePAC prescription packaging technology is designed to simplify the distribution and uptake of medications. I think it is as great technology to increase medication adherence and safety. Each onePac package contains the medications you need to take for the entire day and include the time at which to take them. So instead of having multiple pill bottles, onePac group all your medications for a day in one package. It contains the person’s name, day and time of dose, medication names, strengths, picture of the pill, and directions for the patient in how to take the medication. For more information about the onePAC prescription packaging technology, go to http://bit.ly/bfpzSy


 OneTimeRx
It was only a matter of time before texting made its way into healthcare as a viable option as a way to remind patients to take their medications. OnTimeRx medication reminders are helping people remember to take their medication on time. With OnTimeRx you can schedule and receive any kind of message you want. OnTimeRx reminders can be simple, like: "Take your pills now". Or use a more specific message, like: “Time to take your blood pressure medications now.” This service can send reminder calls on your home telephone, mobile phone or by SMS or email.  The OnTimeRx Reminder Software Applications works on your iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm WebOS, or Windows Mobile smart phone or PDA. You can even install the program on your Windows desktop or laptop. For more information about OnTimeRx, go to http://www.ontimerx.com.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

What is Pharmacy Informatics?

I found a 20-minute webinar on Pharmacy Informatics for students, new practitioners, or anyone interested in informatics. The recorded webinar can be found below:

For more information, there is an online brochure from ASHP at http://www.ashp.org/DocLibrary/MemberCenter/SOPIT/InformaticsBrochure.aspx

Replaced by Machines


For me, the world of technology suddenly appears exciting. I started my community rotation last month at Walgreens.  This is my first time working at a community pharmacy. At my pharmacy, they fill about 600-800 prescriptions per day. Our store has the Parata Dispensing Robotic system. When the Parata's machine is working and running ok, it saves ALOT of time because it has the capability of filling a prescription, capping the vial and printing the patient's instructions in less than 25 seconds. It completes about 150 prescriptions per hour. You can even check the history to see if the medication has been scanned out. I am impressed by how the machine keeps up with the frantic pace at the pharmacy. Seeing robots in the future is not a bad idea if used for purely mechanical action such as filling scripts. I’m not worry about being replaced by a machine.  It will free up some of the pharmacists' time and really allow them to put to use all of the knowledge they have. Simply, this idea that we have that computers are taking over our jobs only applies to labor rather than a service utilizing specific skills. Human judgment is a required factor in pharmacy. We pharmacists are trained to look at the interaction and determine if a medication is safe and right for our patients. A computer cannot fully control the role of a pharmacist or any other health professional without making professional judgments. This is why we have pilots even though the plane can fly on auto pilot. There is a human aspect to all health care fields that just cannot be replaced by a computer. As pharmacist move from behind the counter to a patient bedside, pharmacy informatics will make us better pharmacist by improving the safety, quality, and efficiency of care.