Friday, March 30, 2018

THE PARADIGM SHIFT FROM HOSPITAL FORMULARY TO ELECTRONIC FORMULARY – FUTURA E-FORMULARY

THE PARADIGM SHIFT FROM HOSPITAL FORMULARY TO ELECTRONIC FORMULARY – FUTURA E-FORMULARY

By Mammen Paul


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.
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