Telepharmacy a broader term of telemedicine is the provision of pharmaceutical care and productsby registered pharmacists and pharmaciesto patients who cannot have direct contact with a pharmacist through telecommunication technology.
Pharmacists, qualified health professionals not only dispense medical products but also provide counseling to patients on how and when using the drug and provide pharmacovigilance services.
Information and communication technology (ICT) has improved access to professional health services and telepharmacy can provide pharmaceutical care to the underserved area. The problem of the Unavailability of pharmacists can be resolved using telepharmacy services. (Baldoni, Amenta, & Ricci, 2019)
Telepharmacy services:
Telepharmacy services are of following types;
- Chronic disease management (CDC)
- Medication therapy management (MTM)
- Ambulatory care
- Transition of care
- Remote dispensing
- Pharmacogenomics
- Remote order entry review
- IV admixtures
- Remote counseling
Inpatient telepharmacy is the real-time medication order verification and review for an inpatient pharmacy of the health care facility.
In a retail community telepharmacy, a pharmacist reviews prescriptions and supervise the technicians and the pharmacy online through technology. In Outpatient or discharge telepharmacy, patients can access prescription medications and pharmacists despite living in remote areas.
IV admixture defined by the Joint Commission on Accreditation Health care Organization (JCAHO) is the IV solutions administered to patients who are admitted to a health care facility.Telepharmacy give access to a pharmacist to review and suit up the IV admixture cleanroom remotely in this way telepharmacy save the time of the patient which can be used in generating more revenues and patient counseling
Remote counseling provides patient counseling in remote areas via video calls. In addition to providing counseling to hospital patients, telepharmacy also provides specialty counseling (AIDS, Diabetic, HIV) and clinical interaction with a pharmacist.
Though there are many advantages it also has some drawbacks like problems in the evaluation of dispensing of a drug, decreased interaction between patient and pharmacist, and risk of security and integrity of patient data.
Baldoni, S., Amenta, F., & Ricci, G. (2019). Telepharmacy Services: Present Status and Future Perspectives: A Review. Medicine (Kaunas, Lithuania), 55(7), 327. DOI: 10.3390/medicina55070327