Volume 2 - Issue 8 - October 2007

Industry Spotlight: National Hospital & Health-System Pharmacy Week is October 21st -27th, 2007

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) sponsors this week-long celebration during American Pharmacists Month. The week focuses on the important contributions made by pharmacists and technicians to promote the safety and well-being of patients in our nation's health care institutions.

The MEDITECH Community Bulletin will use the occasion of National Hospital & Health-System Pharmacy Week, October 21-27, 2007, to underscore the importance of the role which pharmacists and pharmacy technicians play as members of multidisciplinary patient-care teams. Not only do they play a critical role in preventing medication errors and advising providers on the best drug choices, but hospital and health-system pharmacists have been able to take on enhanced patient-care roles because of the deployment of new technologies like dispensing robots, medication label bar coding, and advanced clinical information systems which provide instant access to both drug and patient data.

Career Corner: Pharmacists in The Information Age

By: Donna Carroll, Editor

Pharmacists are experts on the thousands of medications available today, how each one works in the body, and the ways to use each one safely and effectively. Pharmacists who graduate today receive six years of education focused on medication therapy, and many pharmacists practicing in hospitals and health systems also complete post-graduate residency programs. They advise doctors and nurses on the best medications and monitor every patient’s medication therapy and provide quality checks to detect and prevent harmful drug interactions, reactions, or mistakes.

Like any knowledge-intensive field these days, pharmacy professionals are greatly impacted by the explosive growth of computers. Pharmacy Informatics is a field that combines drug information, patient data and computer expertise. But, how do you define Pharmacy Informatics? Well, it depends upon who you ask ... below are some different, but very similar definitions.

• Pharmacy informatics (PIX), also referred to as pharmacoinformatics, is the application of computers to the storage, retrieval and analysis of drug information. PIX systems help the pharmacist manage information including but not limited to medical insurance records of patients, drug interaction data, as well as prescription data. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacy_informatics)

• Informatics can be defined as that discipline that assists in the translation of raw data into actionable knowledge, i.e., something that could be used, and the dissemination of that knowledge to other individuals including health care professionals and consumers. Therefore, pharmacy informatics can be defined as that subspecialty of informatics which is applied directly to pharmaceutical care. (http://www.pharmacyinformatics.org)

• Pharmacy Informatics is an emerging field of study that combines the uses of information technology with the practice of pharmacy. (http://www.pharmacyinformatics.com)

Why is Informatics Important to Pharmacy?
* The following information is excerpted from the PharmacyInformatics.com web site. *

“Informatics is rapidly becoming an important field in our society. When is the last time you typed in 'informatics' into a search engine? Today, you would receive between 40,000 and 50,000 hits depending on the search engine you use. And while the aspects of informatics are endless, a relatively small number of people truly understand its meaning. Informatics is still in its beginning stages. It is a result of our 'age of information' and the shear volumes of endless stacks of data that have seemed to appear in the past decade. New companies have risen from this growing paper-trail quagmire in an effort to curb the data explosion. New data storage processes and storage units have been created in response. But, the problem still remains. How do you effectively manage this data?”

“Pharmacists are not immune to the problem either. Growing numbers of new prescription and OTC medications, patient records, and newer FDA approved indications have made the daunting task of medication familiarity even more difficult. A pharmacist can't be expected to know every medication, its therapeutic usage, side effects, drug interactions, and dosage forms. Therefore, we must rely on these new computer systems and algorithms to manage our knowledge base and extend our capabilities. However, because the programs that are created to manage this information aren't created by Pharmacists, more problems continue to surface. How many disgruntled pharmacists have complained about the lack of usefulness of a particular program? How many times have you sat at a system and wondered why you couldn't complete a task the way you wanted to?”

“Some Pharmacists complain that the implementation of some new computer system causes more work. But, how can this be? The very nature of the system should be to reduce paperwork and streamline the flow of information to and from the Pharmacist. The answer, while not simple or singular in nature, lies in the original study and design of the system. Had the system been designed, ground up, with the Pharmacist in mind, and created by a Pharmacist, then would the system work more efficiently? There is a particular dearth of data that would support the answer to this question, but logic would tell us that water mixes with water much better than oil. Yet, we do not see Pharmacist racing out to get a second degree in computers. Why? Most likely because 5-6 years of study are needed to become a Pharmacist and another 4-5 years to become a computer engineer.”

Are you a Pharmacy Informatics Specialist?

As a Pharmacy Informatics Specialist, you perform a very important role. The demand for such professionals is ever-increasing as healthcare providers recognize the need for a clinical background in the development, use, and management of information systems. Having first-hand experience in the dispensing of pharmaceuticals is becoming even more important as providers are starting to implement some of the more advanced clinical applications available in the market today.

There are several career options available to Pharmacy Informatics Specialists today. Sometimes the positions reside in the Pharmacy; other times they report into the Information Systems/Technology department. The position titles may vary from one organization to the next, but the roles generally fall into the following categories:

• Systems / Applications Analyst: Works for a healthcare provider (hospital, medical practice, or clinic); performs analysis, implementation, development, user training, and support of a specific (or multiple) vendor application software products.

• Implementation Specialist: Works for a healthcare software/technology vendor or a consulting firm; performs analysis, implementation, development, and user training of a specific (or multiple) products for their customers. Such positions generally involve extensive travel to customer sites, nationally or regionally.

• Project Manager: Works for a healthcare provider, vendor, or consulting firm; performs project planning, management, delivery, and oversight of healthcare software/technology initiatives.

• Product Manager: Works for a healthcare software/technology vendor; provides input to the full product life cycle including the design, development, sales, marketing, and delivery of product(s). Works closely with both internal teams and customers.

Regardless of the path you choose, we’ll be there with you.

Systems Personnel is a professional search firm specializing in Healthcare Management and Information Technology. All of our clients need Pharmacy Informatics professionals at one time or another. If you’d like to keep your career options open, then please let us know. Even if we don’t have an immediate opportunity for you, we’d be happy to discuss your background, interests, and career options in order to consider you for future opportunities. Please feel free to call us at 413-258-4511 or email us at any time. Your personal privacy is guaranteed!

We’d like to thank you for all that you do and wish you a happy National Pharmacy Week!

Featured Employer: Sponsored by MeditechCareers.com

We recently announced the beginning of our new web site: MeditechCareers.com. In addition to the basic job posting, we will provide some general information about the employer and their environment, and highlight them as a "Featured Employer" in this newsletter.This new web site was created in order to give MEDITECH professionals a place to explore career options and opportunities. Visitors to the site will be able to view MEDITECH-related job postings and submit their resume for consideration. Having a separate web site for this purpose will allow us to maintain the original focus of The MEDITECH Community Bulletin on our loyal readers who are seeking news and information rather than job postings. We certainly hope this new web site will provide some value to the MEDITECH user community.

DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS -- IOWA

About the Position:

• Manages staff of 11 people, including 2 direct reports

• Plan, direct and implement internal information systems for the various aspects of the facility and linking these with outside systems where needed

• Oversees and participates in the development and maintenance of appropriate hardware and equipment to support various computer applications throughout the facility

• Provides training and support programs for all levels of personnel

• Develops tools essential for proper accessibility of patient and management information

• Develops IT strategic plan and formulates budget for the IT functions

• IS Department enjoys strong executive support from Administration

• Position offers a very competitive compensation and benefits package

Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree required

• 5+ years of Information Systems experience

• 3+ years of IS management experience at a Manager or Director level

• Prior experience in a MEDITECH facility

• Strong leadership, management and communication skills

• Ability to perform strategic planning based on current IS trends, industry mandates, and organizational goals

About the Hospital &Location:

• Critical Access Hospital with 25 acute care beds and 128 beds in long term care

• 20 physicians; 750+ employees; 3350 surgeries per year; 323 births per year

• One on-site clinic attached to hospital, 4 outreach physician clinics

• State-of-the-art technology and facilities

• New building projects in progress for Med-Surg, ICU, OB, ED and Diagnostic Imaging

• Wonderful community of approximately 10,000 enjoys very reasonable cost-of-living

• Absolutely beautiful, clean city with excellent schools and low crime rate

How to Apply:

To apply for this Job, please email your resume to Donna@CarrollSearch.com and reference Job ID # 01496727.

Recent News: 15 MEDITECH Customers Among America's Best Hospitals

U.S. News and World Report put 5,462 medical centers through progressively finer screens to create the 16 specialties rankings in the 2007 edition of "America's Best Hospitals". Just 173 hospitals made it into the rankings, and of those, a mere 18 displayed the marked breadth of expertise, with high scores in at least six specialties, that qualified them for the Honor Roll.

Recognized among the 173 hospitals to make the "America's Best Hospitals" list are 15 MEDITECH customers, reflecting their proven excellence in delivering quality patient care:

• Children's Hospital (Denver, Co)

• Flagler Hospital (St. Augustine, FL)

• Greater Baltimore Medical Center (Baltimore, MD)

• Lahey Clinic (Burlington, MA)

• Long Island Jewish Medical Center (New Hyde Park, NY)

• Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (Palo Alto, CA)

• Maine Medical Center (Portland, ME)

• New England Baptist Hospital (Boston, MA)

• New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (New York, NY)

• Saratota Memorial Health Care System (Sarasota, FL)

• Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (Boston, MA)

• St. Louis University Hospital (St. Louis, MO)

• UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles CA)

• Willis-Knighton Medical Center (Shreveport, LA)

• Women's Hospital of Texas (Houston, TX)

More info: http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/070715/23meth.htm

Worth a Read: Articles of Interest to the Healthcare IT Field

Minimizing Mistakes
By: Doris Mulder
HealthCare Informatics, September, 2007

By developing an open culture on medication errors, Beloit Memorial Hospital was able to shine a realistic light on the types of error occurring prior to implementation a new medication administration process. With a non-punitive and anonymous error reporting policy, they feel the data on medication errors is reliable and boast an 80 to 85 percent reduction in medication errors.

Read article

Staffing Angst
By: Charlene Marietti
HealthCare Informatics, September, 2007

A survey done confirms that staffing resistance to change continues as one of the main challenges for implementing technology proven to enhance patient safety. Because about one in 10 of those surveyed say resistance is coming from the organization's executive leadership this article speaks to the need for talented individuals who can communicate the need and value of technology and gain co-operation of management are critical to success.

Read article

More than IT
By: Yousuf Ahmad
HealthCare Informatics, September, 2007

Evaluating organization readiness may show, like it did at Mercy Health Partners a myriad of different cultures and care processes. The Mercy multi-disciplinary team recognized that technology alone is not enough—successful implementations require a combination of technology, people and process change that all can stand behind.

Read article