Envision’s CEO, Emily Alexander, PharmD, BCPS is giving a presentation on August 31st called “Use of tele-pharmacy to increase access to pharmacy services.”

We’ll have a booth as well (PDF here) and hope to see you there!

The 2010 passage of health care reform signaled a seismic shift in affairs between powerful stakeholders in the US health care industry. The Council on Public Policy is the ASHP’s lead body charged with addressing this changing landscape on behalf of its members and the patients they serve.

Alpine, Texas—May 6, 2010— Emily Alexander, CEO, Envision Telepharmacy, LLC, has been appointed to the Council on Public Policy of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Her term begins in June, 2010.

The Council’s role in guiding ASHP policy related to laws and regulations that have a bearing on pharmacy practice in hospitals and health care systems took on increased importance with the 2010 passage of health care reform (aka the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). The act, along with subsequent enabling regulations, signals a seismic shift in affairs between the various and powerful stakeholders in the US health care industry—an industry that accounts for 17% of the nation’s GDP.

Within the Council’s purview are (1) federal laws and regulations, (2) state laws and regulations, (3) analysis of public policy proposals that are designed to address important health issues, (4) professional liability as defined by the courts, and (5) related matters.

In the recent past the Council has advocated the expansion of collaborative drug therapy management (CDTM); addressed increased regulatory oversight of medication supply chain integrity; advocated pharmacists be included in the emerging health care (medical) home model; and urged the development of model language dealing with emerging technologies, such as telepharmacy.

About Envision Telepharmacy, LLC
Envision Telepharmacy was established in 2004 to provide better ways to extend pharmacy services for hospitals and health care systems in need. It is a pioneer in developing tools, services and systems that provide electronic supervision and remote order processing through high-bandwidth, standards-based web technology, still imaging, and high resolution video. More information about Envision Telepharmacy, LLC can be found at http://www.envision-rx.com/

About American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP)
ASHP is a 35,000-member national professional association that represents pharmacists who practice in hospitals, health maintenance organizations, long-term care facilities, home care and other components of health care systems. Its main office is in Bethesda, Md. More information about ASHP can be found at http://www.ashp.org/

Envision’s restricted-area medication preparation and workflow management system heads to the field backed by five years of research and development.

Alpine, TX – April 23, 2010 – Envision Telepharmacy, LLC (Envision) today announced the release-to-manufacturing of its Pharm‑Q In the Hood (Pharm‑Q ITH) system, an integrated pharmacy workflow management software & hardware package built expressly for work in restricted areas.  Envision will begin field testing multiple physical configurations of Pharm‑Q ITH later this month.  To accelerate availability the first units will be produced using rapid prototyping technologies.

Many of today’s pharmacists average ten minutes of uninterrupted work before their attention is needed elsewhere.  If high-risk medication preparation is underway and needs attention, a pharmacist must leave his current work and spend valuable time trekking to the IV room and properly preparing for entry.  Under these circumstances the technician spends inordinate amounts of time waiting on the pharmacist or leaves and reenters the restricted area to find and consult with the pharmacist.

Envision’s Pharm-Q ITH system lets the technician and pharmacist work together without the technician leaving the isolation hood (or restricted area) and without the pharmacist being in the same physical space when questions arise.  Through the use of the latest video communication, still imaging and remote technologies, the technician never need leave the IV room, or even an IV hood itself, in order to consult with the pharmacist.  And the pharmacist never again need be constantly present in the preparation area.  Both can attend to their work at their most natural rhythm and effective pace.

Available in a variety of configurations, Pharm‑Q ITH can be deployed in restricted areas without disrupting the current layout.  Most Pharm-Q ITH configurations enable several compounding jobs to be underway at the same time as dictated by current staffing and layout.  Nonstandard configurations may be available on request.

Note:  Features are product- and installation-dependent.  Some listed features and functionality may be unavailable depending on application and customer’s environment.  Product and service descriptions, functionality & requirements are subject to change without notice.  ENVISION MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, IN THIS PRESS RELEASE.

About Envision Telepharmacy, LLC
Envision Telepharmacy was established in 2004 to provide better ways to extend pharmacy services for hospitals and health care systems in need.  It is a pioneer in developing tools and systems that provide electronic supervision and order processing through high-bandwidth, standards-based web technology, still imaging, and high resolution video.  More information about Envision Telepharmacy, LLC can be found at http://www.envision-rx.com/

Contact:  Emily Alexander at (432) 897-0754 ext 105 / Emily.Alexander@envision-rx.com

Here are some pictures and video of us demoing Pharm-Q ITH at the 62nd annual TSHP conference in Galveston, TX:

We hope to see you there!