Pennsylvania Hospitals receive technology grant, hope to implement telepharmacy

The Pennsylvania Mountains Healthcare Resource Development (PMHRD) received a grant from Highmark, reports the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in a pair of nearly identical articles. Dianne Emminger, VP of IS for ACMH Hospital commented on what they intend to use the grant for:

The funding will be used to purchase equipment and software, Emminger said.

ACMH Hospital will partner with the other hospitals and care centers to provide residents those services, which are in short supply in rural communities, Emminger said.

Emminger gave some examples of how the technology could be used.

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Another would be tele-pharmacy where remote pharmacists would enter orders into the systems of hospitals that do not have 24-7 pharmacist

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"The specific projects are still being evaluated for feasibility," Emminger said.

The district of hospitals already has a fiber optic network in place from a grant they received in 2008, so the infrastructure is already in place.