THE APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY PHARMACIES: A BRIEF REVIEW

Authors

  • Pei Lin Lua Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, UniSZA Institute For Community Development and Quality of Life (i-CODE)
  • Umar Idris Ibrahim Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA)

Keywords:

Smart phone as health monitoring tool, Pharmacists readiness

Abstract

The use of communication technology has brought positive changes to the healthcare delivery system of today. Both healthcare professionals and patients have found a better option to access relevant health and drug information. The purpose of this review is to compile and evaluate all available investigations on the application of communication technology in hospital and community pharmacies. Pub Med, Medline and EBSCO host databases were searched using the key words: mobile phone, pharmacy and telecommunication, pharmacy and electronics, electronic record in pharmacy from the year 1994 until August 2014; whereby only full length English articles related to the review were included. Ten studies met all inclusion criteria comprising of 1124 respondents (age = 19-63, males=43%). Majority of the studies were cross-sectional in nature. Six utilized mobile phones as their means of communication of which majority (n=5) utilized text messages. Four utilized computer systems as their means of communication where they mostly work on drug-drug interaction software. Most of the reviewed studies demonstrated that incorporation of information technology in pharmaceutical care delivery and pharmacy training has improved patient satisfaction and produced better outcomes. However, several studies indicated that drug-drug interaction software had increased burden on the pharmacy staff and in some cases caused the distraction. Overall, there were positive reports on the use of communication technology which was found to help in improving pharmaceutical care.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Pei Lin Lua, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, UniSZA Institute For Community Development and Quality of Life (i-CODE)

Faculty of medicine and health sciences (UniSZA)

Professor

Umar Idris Ibrahim, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA)

Msc Student

References

Abdlatif AA, Ahmad NA, Bandar FA, Khaled TA, Naif MA, Nasser SA, et al. Mobile phone text messaging for pharmaceutical care in saudi arabia: a pilot study. Int J Pharm 2013;3(2):312-5.

Cartwright LA, Spina SP. Smartphones in clinical pharmacy practice: Is it evidence-based? Health Policy Technol 2014;(3):85-9.

Free C, Phillips G, Felix L, Galli L, Patel V, Edwards P. The effectiveness of M-health technologies for improving health services: a systemic review protocol. Biomed Central Res 2010;3:250-8.

Ojeleye O, Avery A, Gupta V, Boyd M. The evidence for the effectiveness of safety of alerts in electronic patient medication record systems at the point of pharmacy order entry: a systemic review. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2013;13:69-79.

Sankaranarayanan J, Sallach RE. Rural patients’ access to mobile phones and willingness to receive mobile phone-based pharmacy and other health technology services: a pilot study. Telemed E-Health 2014;20(2):182-5.

www.moh.gov.my/english.php [Accessed 16-09-2014].

Usir E, Lua PL, Abdul Majeed A. Prevalence and usage of printed and electronic drug references and patients medication records in community pharmacies in malaysia. J Pharm Pract 2012;00(0)1-7.

Wong SS. Pharmacy practice in Malaysia. Malaysian J Pharm 2001;(1):2.

www.pharmacy.gov.my/v2/site/default./poison-regulations-1952-pdf[Accessed 16-09-2014].

Murphy JE, Forrey RA, Desiraju U. Community pharmacist response to drug-drug interaction alerts. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2004;61:1484-7.

Abarca J, Colon LR, Wang VS, Malone DC, Murphy JE, Amstrong EP. Evaluation of the performance of drug-drug interaction screening software in community and hospital pharmacies. J Manag Care Pharm 2006;12(5):383-9.

Indermitte J, Beutler M, Bruppacher R. Management of drug-interaction alert in community pharmacies. J Clin Pharm Ther 2007;(32):133-42.

Mao Y, Zhang Y, Zhai S. Mobile phone text messaging for pharmaceutical care in a hospital in china. J Telemed Telecare 2008;14:410-4.

Toh TW, Chui WK, Yap KY. Development of a virtual patient record mobile app for pharmacy practice education. Arch Pharm Pract 2014;5(2):66.

Adedeji AA, Sanusi B, Tella A, Akinsanya M, Ojo O, Akinwunmi MO, et al. Exposure to anti-malarial drugs and monitoring of adverse drug reactions using toll-free mobilephone calls in private retail sector in Sagamu, Nigeria: implications for pharmacovigilance. Malar J 2011;10(1);230-6.

Pop-Eleches C, Thirumurthy H, Habyarimana JP, Zivin JG, Goldstein MP, Walque, et al. Mobile phone technologies improve adherence to antiretroviral treatment in a resource-limited setting: a randomized controlled trial of text message reminders. Natl Inst Health 2011;825-34.

International Telecommunication Union 2010. The world in 2010: ICT facts and figures; Available: http:/www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/material/FactFigures2010. [Accessed: 16 November 2014].

www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g2276-Cross-sectional-studies:advantages and disadvantages/The BMJ.

Wei J, Hollin I, Kachnowski S. A review of the use of mobile phone text messaging in clinical and healthy behavior intervention. J Telemed Telecare 2011;(17):41-8.

Joo NS, Kim BT. Mobile phone short message service messaging for behavior modification in a community-based weight control program in Korea. J Telemed Telecare 2007;13(8):416-20.

Magnus D, Rodgers S, Avery AJ. GPs’ views on computerized drug interaction alerts: questionnaire survey. J Clin Pharm Ther 2002;27:377-82.

Weingnat SN, Toth M, Sands DZ, Aronson MD, Devis RB, Phillips RS. Physicians’ decisions to override computerized drug alerts in primary care. Arch Intern Med 2003;163:2625-31.

Published

01-03-2015

How to Cite

Lua, P. L., and U. I. Ibrahim. “THE APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY PHARMACIES: A BRIEF REVIEW”. International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, vol. 7, no. 3, Mar. 2015, pp. 1-5, https://mail.innovareacademics.in/journals/index.php/ijpps/article/view/4206.

Issue

Section

Review Article(s)