Pharmacy informatics technology is the backbone of modern healthcare, streamlining operations, enhancing patient care, and improving overall efficiency. However, like any complex system, it’s not immune to hiccups and challenges. When issues arise, it’s essential to identify the root of the problem for a quick and effective solution. The medication use process has pieces of technology that improve each phase, but with technology there is always the issue of potential problems. In this blog, we’ll explore five crucial tips to help you pinpoint the core of most pharmacy informatics technology i ..read more

If you’ve been reading into healthcare informatics, you more than likely already encountered the term interoperability. Interoperability means the ability to exchange and use data effectively. Patients may receive care from multiple providers, and data needs to be shared among various systems. But how do we ensure that data is exchanged in a consistent and meaningful way? That is what standardization is for. Benefits of Standardization Standardization promotes consistency and accuracy. One of the primary benefits of standardization is that it promotes consistency and accuracy in the da ..read more

Excel is one of the most powerful tools healthcare organizations have to understand and visualize the data they need to improve the care of the patients they serve. Outside of the accounting and revenue cycle departments, it is used in two broad ways: as a data analytics tool and as a project management tool. In this post, we’ll dive deeper into the data analytics side of Excel. Virtually all electronic medical records, as well as automated medication systems, allow the user to download reports in Excel format, or at least some transformation of data into this more utilized format. Excel, unl ..read more

Download the following guide for a complete list of ASHP-accredited pharmacy informatics residencies of 2022. Includes links to each program for more information. Pharmacy Informatics Residencies 2022 Download Now!47 Downloads   The post Pharmacy Informatics Residencies List – As of December, 2022 appeared first on Pharmacy Informatics Academy ..read more

Let’s talk about Excel for pharmacists part of a professional development toolkit. By the time I left my job as a pharmacy project manager at a three-hospital system to move overseas, I was starting to develop a reputation as the Excel Guru. Although my job title on paper was ‘pharmacist’ I wore several hats, from pharmacy operations and compliance to finance. What’s more interesting is that if I had the knowledge and skills I do now when I was initially hired as the outpatient pharmacy manager, I would have saved so much time and frustration during those first years as I worked hard to make ..read more

Being a pharmacy informatics professional means you’ll be working with pharmacy technology, operational improvement, and implementations. However, that’s just one side of it. Another aspect that will be deeply rooted in everything you do is working with different professionals in a team setting, often times with different types of people and different perspectives. For that, patience is one of the most important pharmacy informatics skills you can have when working in the field. Patience with the Process Working in informatics means working with the best practices of ITIL in mind. This means ..read more

When I first started my career in pharmacy informatics, I had no idea what I was in for. I knew that I wanted to work in the field, but I didn’t really have any sense of what the actual job would entail. It wasn’t until I was already working in the pharmacy IT field that I truly understood what pharmacy informatics was. I wish I knew how to get real experiences back when I was still a student. Nowadays, you can learn a lot about the field through a number of resources online. A simple Google search will provide you with many different areas to learn about informatics. However, knowledge is ju ..read more

Pharmacies, and healthcare in general, are increasingly relying on information technology to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and safety of operations and patient care. As a result, pharmacists are being called on to provide expert assistance in developing these tools, and a pharmacy informatics residency can come in handy. Through a pharmacy informatics residency (you can find the listing here) , you can get trained on the ins and outs of pharmacy information systems, CDS, BCMA, third party vendor tools, and interpersonal/collaborative skills such as communication and project management. A ..read more

One of the most common questions that I get is “Do you need to learn programming to practice in pharmacy informatics?” My answer to this question has always switched between yes and no. The reason for this is that pharmacy informatics is such a broad, diverse field and it’s still constantly changing, resulting in changing roles and responsibilities over time. As of writing, I believe in a majority of health systems that you can still do your job as a pharmacy informaticist without any programming skills, but it will benefit you greatly if you knew some of the basic concepts. Here are some of ..read more

After launching our free introductory course on Pharmacy Informatics nearly a year ago, we’ve heard loud and clear from our users that a deeper dive into pharmacy informatics was desired. Based on this feedback, we spent the last few months working on our second course, A Practical Guide to Pharmacy Informatics, that we think will provide a lot of value to individuals just starting their pharmacy informatics careers (others welcomed too!). Seven chapters of pharmacy informatics content totaling 7+ hours A mixture of learning methods that span audio presentations, videos, and downloadable guid ..read more