I've mentioned many times before that I tend to notice things that perhaps get overlooked by many, but catch my eye and intrigue my mind. They're not always medical or scientific in nature, but they all tend to be part of my overall cancer experience, and as such I'm happy to share them with you (what choice do you have?). The latest odd-servation of mine from a recent visit to the Clinic is the Pyxis MedFlex Automated Dispensing Cabinet (ADC). The what ?!?! It's basically an App-controlled secure medicine cabinet that contains some of the more complex, costly and controlled substances (medications) that are dispensed at the Clinic (other than Chemo itself).
The nurses (using their individual, rolling, wireless computerized work stations) look up the medications that are planned for me for that day's visit, scan the QR code on my hospital wristband (issued for that day's visit), go over to the Pyxis ADC located in the central nurse's area, punch in a code (unique to them and me - for that day's visit), and retrieve the correct dosage for me. As you can imagine, there are numerous advantages and motivations behind this system.
- Accuracy: For both essential health reasons and administrative financial reasons, the series of checks and balances built into this streamline system are beneficial for ensuring that I receive the correct type and amount of any given drug that I am receiving for the day - be it pre-med Tylenol or an infusion bag of zoledronic acid (Zometa - for treating possible high levels of calcium in my blood, caused by the Multiple Myeloma).
- Inventory: With the variety of patients, diseases and therapies being dispensed at the Clinic (just for liquid or blood borne cancers; solid tumor cancer infusion happens across the street) you can imagine that there are many varieties of elements that need to be available at any given time. But, being able to tie together a few days of anticipated patient pharmaceutical needs with a sophisticated supply system (Pyxis), can help control inventory - need and waste. Healthcare costs continue to increase, and being able to better manage medications is just one way to contain escalation.
- Security: Many of the meds that are administered at the Clinic are unique scientific chemicals. Some of them can range in the 10's of thousands of dollars per dose. Others are controlled substances - tightly monitored by the government because they may be abused or cause addiction. I'm not implying that there are issues with employee theft or patient dependency of the classified drugs at the Clinic, but the Pyxis ADC objectively monitors these regulated substances to make sure that everyone legally gets what they are allowed.
Savings lives and saving money. These are two prongs of Meds Management that are supervised at my Clinic - using the latest organizational technology available.
