Houston Methodist deploys Iristick smart glasses and Pharmacy Stars regulatory compliance software platform to streamline pharmacy inspections
NEW YORK, United States- December 8, 2021- As a pioneer within health care, Houston Methodist Hospital is taking the lead once again on the medical innovation front. After introducing Iristick smart glasses several months ago for the training and education of pharmacists, one of the largest hospitals in Texas is ready to take its technological advancements within augmented reality a step further.
With a strong emphasis on patient care and safety, Houston Methodist Hospital acts as the number one leading academic medical center in Texas. By offering exceptional clinical care and patient experiences, the hospital is reputable for being the frontrunner in top-notch medical innovation.
Deployment of the Iristick.G2 smart glasses resulted in improved educational training of several departments. Informative training videos demonstrating work processes ensured education and training kept running throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The multiple benefits from using smart glasses have led the hospital to think out of the box and in conjunction with education, the smart glasses will now be implemented for pharmaceutical inspections as well. “Adding smart glasses to our pharmacy portfolio created the first step in incorporating augmented reality in our daily tasks to improve operational outcomes,” said Dr. Ghalib Abbasi, PharmD, MS, MBA, System Director of Pharmacy Informatics at Houston Methodist.
Together with Pharmacy Stars, an enterprise quality management system for pharmacy regulatory compliance, Iristick smart glasses will join forces to innovate and improve Houston Methodist Hospital’s pharmaceutical operations. More specifically, Pharmacy Stars’ cloud-based pharmacy-focused software will interface directly with Iristick smart glass technology ensuring pharmacy inspection operations gain in ease, efficiency, accuracy, and completeness of detail, all whilst being compliant with existing protocols. The built integration with Iristick smart glasses will ensure pharmacy inspections run seamlessly on the smart glasses’ iOS application in relation to diverse pharmacy compliance tasks, facilitating what used to be the often cumbersome scheduled activities of pharmacy technicians.
Johan Degeyter, CEO Iristick, adds “Enabling ‘handsfree operations’ in demanding environments is the reason why Iristick created a portfolio of smart glasses. Our collaboration with Pharmacy Stars illustrates once again the power of our technology applied to the demanding environment of pharmacy inspections.”
As the correct handling of specific pharmacy inspections requires strict pharmaceutical procedures and processes, it goes without saying that accuracy and step-by-step guidance are crucial during these inspections. Working hands free, therefore, is an extra asset ensuring the highest level of accuracy and efficiency.
“Required regular inspections of proper storage of medications often involves manually inspecting hundreds or even thousands of locations every month, and either manually writing or logging answers to dozens of questions at each location,” says Keith Streckenbach, CEO Pharmacy Stars, “Teaming with Houston Methodist and Iristick will enable users of Pharmacy Stars Inspections to both greatly reduce work effort and increase accuracy of these important safety-driven inspections.”
The integration and implementation of Pharmacy Stars’ software on the Iristick smart glasses are planned to go live in Q1 of 2022. More information is coming soon.