Tuesday May 6 / 2008

Tuesday May 6 /2008

12:10: The Health Roundup with Jay McQueen.

12:12: Even more evidence suggesting breast feeding is the thing to do (if you can do it!) This, from a study out of McGill University.
Guest: Louise Guthro, Coordinator of Breastfeeding and Newborn Assessment Clinic at St. Joseph's Healthcare.

12:20: Hamilton General Hospital’s Nuclear Medicine Department is leading the way in quality testing for the diagnosis of heart disease, recently being granted an accreditation held by very few labs in North America.
Guest: Dr. Karen Gulenchyn, Chief of Nuclear Medicine at HHS.

12:35: How exactly do Canadians, doctors and natural health experts feel about health and wellness, and what it takes to be healthy? Pfizer Canada has released More than Medication, a study that asked 4,000 Canadians, 200 physicians and 190 natural health care experts how they feel about staying healthy.
Guest: Michael Gordon, Baycrest Hospital’s VP of Medicine.

12:45: Rexall Radio Health Matters segment.
Guest: Hilton.

New Automated Pharmacy Systems!

Automated pharmacy systems improve patient safety, reduce medication errors, free-up pharmacists for more direct patient care and enhance medication dispensing. The new automated system developed by McKesson Automation, has three separate interlinked components.

• AcuDose-Rx / automated dispensing cabinets holdings narcotics medications and ward stock which are located in different locations , i.e.: emergency room, operating room, intensive care units and nursing units. Nurses can withdraw medications using a secure touch-screen technology.
• Robot-Rx / robotic system that uses bar-code technology to pick out and dispense a 24 hr supply of medications. The medications are packed in single dose supplies, is automatically deposited in envelopes printed with the patients name and bar-code identification. The robot can use up to 600 of the most commonly used medications.
• MedCarousel / a medication storage and retrieval system that efficiently stores medications in rotating 14 foot high vertical shelves, which provide the equivalent storage capacity of 100 feet of horizontal shelving space. The System is guided by a flashing light that identifies the correct medication, therefore eliminating confusion caused by look-alike or sound-alike medications.

Automation is the future of pharmacy as it significantly improves the medications delivery system. This system can allow staff to provide better, inventory control with less waste and improved patient care. For example, medication ordered in a hosptial setting were dispensed for a 7-10 day period, with this new dispensing system, it now can occur every 24 hours, meaning all ordered are current. This will allow pharmacists to devote more time to direct patient care, monitoring drug interactions, resolving drug-related problems and supporting physicians in tailoring drug therapies for individual patients. More advanced systems provide additional information support aimed at enhancing patient safety through integration into other external systems, databases and the internet. Medication errors within hospitals occur with a 1% to 17% of doses ordered for patients. It has been suggested that the rate of inpatient medication errors is one patient per inpatient day. The specific medication errors targeted by automated dispensing systems are those related to drug dispensing and administration. Pharmacy dispensing accounted for 11% of errors and nursing administration 38%.


Nadine Janacek Rexall #202
Blog Reporter