Mammen paul, Pharm D Intern
INTRODUCTION
When we were kids, say around ten years
old, only exceptionally rich people had mobile phones and now thirteen year
later, every single person has a five inch smart phone tucked into his pocket.
Each and every minute some technological innovations are taking place around
the world. Technology is evolving at a faster rate and every twenty to thirty
years a major leap in technology is seen. Personal computing was such a
technological breakthrough in the history of mankind that transformed every
facet of human life. The integration of these technologies with healthcare can
be of huge benefit to the patients. The major challenge that everyone whine
about is the initial cost involved. But many studies have proven this
integration of healthcare and information technology to be worthy in the long
run. One reason the pharmacy practice is not developing in India is the lack of
technological innovations. Such innovations are taking place in all other
domains of health care like drug delivery, diagnosing techniques etc.
Integration of healthcare and IT have
been a great success in developed countries and the lessons from these success
stories has to be replicated into the Indian scenario. In developed countries
clinical pharmacists are of utmost importance when it comes to drug related
matters. They play many roles ranging from dispensing of the drug to dose
calculation and even prescribing in some countries. One such role of clinical
pharmacist is the development of hospital formulary in conjunction with the
Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee (PTC). Hospital formulary is in simple ‘The
Bible’ of drugs used in a hospital. This is the document in which the drugs
that are approved for prescribing in a hospital is enlisted along with
theirmonographs. The hospital formulary also sometimes encompass the guidelines
for good prescribing practice. The hospital formulary is prepared and approved
by the Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee (PTC) and followed by all the
healthcare professionals of the particular hospital.The PTC is a multi-disciplinary
committee that looks into the matter of drugs employed in the hospital as well
as their prescription guidelines. The hospital formulary can be a handy tool to
the physician as well as the pharmacist for drug related aspects.They can refer
the brand approved in the hospital for prescribing, the prescribing guidelines,
cost effective drugs, etc. from this hospital formulary.But imagine a
situation, when you have to sit in front of the patient and consult the
formulary for a brand of drug that is approved in the hospital. This will be an
embarrassment for the patient and produces a bad impression in their minds. The
solution to this can be the use of an electronic formulary where all these
information are just clicks away.
SHIFT
TO ELECTRONIC FORMULARY
In this epoch of information technology,
electronic formulary is gaining popularity in hospitals. Once approved by the
PTC hospital formulariesare then converted into electronic format with the aid
of software engineers. They then design the formulary and input the information
into these software’s database, from where these data could be accessed by the
respective healthcare professional using the graphical user interface.The
problems come into play when PTC revises its formulary and its content. Then
the hospital authorities have to again approach the software engineer for
rewriting the software with the newly approved drug list. This is both a costly
and time consuming affair from the hospital perspective. These problems are
solved with the unique features of the FUTURA E-FORMULARY software. The data
entry to this software can be done by any healthcare professional having a
basic knowledge of computer. The information once entered can be edited without
the assistance of a software engineer.Thus the implementation of this software
as an electronic formulary is a lifetime offer. Once established it can be
modified and updated according to the revisions performed by the PTC.To prevent
unauthorized access and editing of the data, the software is provided with a
login feature.Only the healthcare professional with the administrator password
will be allowed to add or edit the information. All other healthcare
professionals have access to all features of the software except adding and
editing the content. Since it is a lifetime offer, only one time payment is
required for the software and no additional cost exists.Both cost and time
involved is saved with the introduction of this e-formulary. The easy to use
interface helps healthcare professionals to easily understand the software and
its functionalities.
ADDITIONAL
FEATURES
Most of the electronic formularies
available are limited with its functionality. But this e-formulary has many
added advantages over the other drug formularies. These include the cost comparison
of drugs, counselling videos, pictograms, counselling points, etc. All these
features are incorporated into a single software which is an added advantage to
the healthcare professionals, especially physicians and clinical
pharmacists.Based on the economic status of the patient, the physician can
easily settle on the best cost effective agent with a single click. The
clinical pharmacist and the physicians can also educate the patient with the
aid of counselling videos.These are unique added utilities that formularies
usually don’t extend.The different dosage forms of the drugs can be searched
from the database along with the different pharmacokinetic properties allowing
in selecting the most effective dosage form for the patient.Another triumph of this
software is its printing functionality. The counselling points can be printed
and given as leaflets to the patients. Drug related data can also be printed
with this software if needed. Apart from all these features the installation of
this software only requires minimal infrastructure and considerably low cost
when compared to developing e-formulary every year.
CONCLUSION
The ultimate benefactor of all these
features are the patient. Hospitals are also benefited with the cost reduction
in patient care as well as the increase in health outcome. A formulary is not
limited to be used in hospitals. They can be used in community pharmacies to
provide authentic information to the patients as well as for managing the
pharmacies. In developed countries formularies are consulted before prescribing
to ensure safety and better therapeutic outcome. This is not the case in Indian
scenario and innovations like this will be welcomed by the public improving their
attitude towards the community pharmacies and pharmacists in general.To
conclude an e-formulary should be made mandatory in every healthcare facility
for improving the patient care provided at an economical level.
No comments:
Post a Comment