Nebraska State Board of Pharmacy to Write Telepharmacy Legislation

According to their May minutes (PDF), the Nebraska State Board of Pharmacy is about to begin drafting telepharmacy legislation:

Borcher requested help from the Department in writing proposed legislation for tele-pharmacy and also requested the Department's support of the tele-pharmacy legislation
...
Borcher mentioned that he would help with the concept papers for the proposed legislation on tele-pharmacy.

Last year, the Nebraska legislature defined Telepharmacy and Remote Order Entry officially.

ASHP finds 80% of Hospitals without 24/7 Pharmacist Coverage, Publishes RMOP Guidelines, Trumpets RMOP Providers

In the upcoming issue, Drug Topics reports on ASHP's Remote Medication Order Processing guidelines published earlier this year. From the aritlce:

I had all of 2 weeks to fill those slots. It was less expensive and faster to utilize a night pharmacy service."

Stomackin signed with Cardinal Health's Rxe-source, then one of the few national RMOP providers. He still uses the service as coverage for third shift and as a resource while Lewistown builds a computerized physician order-entry system that also requires 24-hour pharmacy support 7 days a week.

Lewistown Hospital is not unusual. The latest ASHP survey found that nearly 80% of hospitals nationwide lack pharmacy coverage at some point during a typical week. The widespread lack of 24/7 coverage combined with mandates to enhance hospital technology are fueling a surge of interest in remote pharmacy management. Community pharmacy is grappling with similar issues as telepharmacy replaces pharmacists in small-town and rural healthcare settings.

ASHP's RMOP Guidelines can be found here (PDF).

MedCentre Remote Dispensing Machine to expand further in Canada, UK, and soon, USA?

PharmaTrust issued a press release today, announcing they were enabling all Ontario Telemedicine Network members to easily install and use their MedCentre dispensing machine. As a result, they got some good press on CBC News which relayed this tidbit:

[d]iscussions are continuing with about 30 health facilities, with six to 10 showing strong interest in adopting the new technology.

In an article late last month, CBCNews asked the Canadian public, "Drug vending machines: Would you use one?" in a(n unscientific) poll, to which they for the most part, surprisingly, answered NO:

Yes: 31% (410 Votes)
No: 69% (924 Votes)

See comments for their reasoning. The article also mentions:

PharmaTrust introduced the machines in Britain this week, already has three operating in Ontario and expects to have them in five U.S. states within a few months.
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Three of the machines are currently being tested in Ontario, two at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and one in the emergency room at Cambridge Memorial Hospital.