NACDS TSE: Hot Rx technology
Samsung LabGeo PT10
HealthSpot is expanding the diagnostic capabilities of its private patient kiosks, or stations, with a new point-of-care lab technology developed by Samsung. Using the new Samsung LABGEO PT10, a compact chemical analyzer, consumers will have access to rapid-result blood tests for such conditions as elevated cholesterol, diabetes and liver damage at HealthSpot stations, while they wait.
HealthSpot will deploy the new technology in its stations pending FDA approval. HealthSpot stations provide a fully enclosed, 40-sq.-ft. kiosk enabled with proprietary cloud-based telemedicine software that allows patients to be seen and treated for a series of illnesses and conditions.
higi kiosks
Higi — a cloud-based interactive kiosk for health-and-wellness tracking, data sharing and patient education — continues to incorporate “new programs to add value,” a company spokesperson said at higi’s NACDS TSE booth. Nearly 10,000 higi stations have now been installed nationwide with a growing menu of biometric screening capabilities, and patients can choose to share their real-time biometrics data and screening outcomes with pharmacists, nutritionists and other health providers.
They also can connect their own mobile and activity tracking devices. Higi also is expanding its reach with vendors who want to reach those patients via targeted messages through the high stations.
RxASP 1000
From RxSafe comes its most advanced prescription packaging system yet, the RxASP 1000. The upgraded strip packaging system is fully automated to turn out complete strips of individually packaged, unit-dose medications for improved adherence, and now features robotic dispensing capabilities that can accommodate up to 1,000 RFID canisters.
The system also is modular and scalable to adapt to higher- or lower-volume pharmacies, said RxSafe president and CEO Bill Holmes. It also can automatically dispense up to 300 single- or multi-dose pouches per minute, Holmes said.
CoBot
Pharmacy technology provider Innovation unveiled potentially disruptive new robotic technology on the NACDS TSE show floor this week. Dubbed the PharmASSIST CoBot, the new, small-scale robot can be moved to any location in the pharmacy, including a counter top or even a wall or ceiling. It can be programmed to ease workflow and perform “mindless repetitive tasks” like accurately distributing prescription vials and filling individual patient order totes “while you do mindful work and focus on your patients,” according to the company. “It’s an additional hand in the pharmacy, like a unit-dose system on steroids,” explained a spokesman.
Surescripts optimizes tech, expands applications
The widespread embrace of electronic prescribing has occurred, with almost universal adoption among pharmacy retailers and more than 7-in-10 U.S. physicians now utilizing paperless prescribing. Now, with the adoption and utilization phases of the e-prescribing revolution accomplished, e-prescribing platform and connectivity provider Surescripts is turning its attention to optimization of the communications technology’s potential with an expanding series of value-added services, said Mike Pritts, Surescripts EVP of product innovation. Among the new capabilities is an electronic prior-authorization feature that allows prescribing physicians to check any patient’s insurance eligibility for any prescription automatically, at the touch of a screen, before sending that prescription to Surescripts’ routing network and on to the patient’s pharmacy.