REAL-TIME NETWORKING STILL HAS INCREDIBLE VALUE

This week, I'm going to turn this post into an interview with John Reichard, president of Shamrock Medical. John and Mike Cummins, vice president of sales, were invited to speak at the VHA Mid-America Service Solutions (MSS) First Annual Meeting and Product Fair held on October 25 and 26, 2012, in Kansas City.

Dave: John, for those who don't know and for those who didn't attend, can you explain the purpose of the VHA MSS?

John: VHA MSS is a group purchasing organization that is co-owned by 8 hospitals in the Midwest region, with a total of 107 member hospitals. Attendees included directors of pharmacy, supply chain and finance.

Dave: Can you give me an idea of the topics covered?

John: Guest speakers for the hospital pharmacy covered topics that included Chargemaster Oversight, Coding and Reimbursement, Inhaler Optimization, High Risk Medication Containment and Employee Surveillance, Beyond Use Dating Extension, and similar topics of interest to hospital pharmacists.

Dave: What topic did you discuss?

John: Well, naturally, we discussed Repackaging - 3rd Party Solutions.

Dave: Can you provide a general idea of what you discussed?

John: Shamrock Medical was asked to present our repackaging services to the pharmacy group and to highlight the benefits that our service offers. We talked about standardization of label formats, abbreviations and content; compliance assistance with NIOSH, RCRA and ISMP; and our unique repackaging solutions that bring efficiencies to the pharmacy such as placing 5 or 10 oral syringes into a ziplock bag to speed carousel restocking or placing 50 robot-ready pouches on a cardboard tube to speed the restocking of the robot. Of course, we showed Shamrock Medical's cost-savings compared to other repackaging solutions.

Dave: What was the biggest "aha" moment you got out of the VHA MSS Annual Meeting?

John: Of course, there was a wealth of information to learn and share. But for me the biggest takeaway was that, despite the technology that allows us to talk via email, Skype, and other web-based technology, how important it is to have the human touch in a business relationship.  The event gave us a chance for old-time networking, where we could talk face-to-face, feel their reaction, have a meaningful dialog over lunch or dinner, exchange ideas, and interact on a human level.

Dave: Any closing remarks?

John: I just want to say “Thanks” to the organizers of the VHA-MSS Annual Meeting and Product Fair for inviting Shamrock Medical Solutions to share the important operational and quality improvements, as well as allowing us to present the value that our repackaging service offers to  owner and member hospitals. Since the meeting, many of the attending pharmacists have started using our services for bar-coded unit dose repackaging. 

Here's to better solutions, 

Dave Bystrom