The application of computerized information technology to pharmacy practice, including highly specialized software and hardware, is not new. In fact, the term pharmacy informatics is much newer than the domain it specifies. Pharmacists, computer scientists and other specialists brought the first generation of pharmacy-specific computer technology to retail and hospital pharmacies in the 1970s through the 1990s.
A present, major trend in pharmacy informatics is to move from pharmacy-specific systems to larger, fully-integrated information systems that include pharmacy functions as a component of larger clinical information systems, retail prescription management systems and drug supply chain management systems. Another major trend is the accelerating technology diffusion of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) for medication orders in hospitals and electronic prescribing (e-Prescribing) of prescriptions sent via networks from physician offices to retail pharmacies.
Pharmacy informatics professional activity has been growing demonstrably over the past several years. For example, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) created a new organizational section in 2006, the Section on Pharmacy Informatics and Technology (SOPIT), that is expressly, "dedicated to improving health outcomes through the use and integration of data, information, knowledge, technology, and automation in the medication-use process." Also, the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA, [1]) has created a pharmacoinformatics working group to, "promote interaction among AMIA members who are interested in the intersection of technology and medication management."
As a profession, pharmacy practice encompasses many different practice venues including retail, community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy practice, long-term care, mail-order and others. This diversity of pharmacy practices is reflected by a like diversity of stakeholder groups interested in pharmacy informatics and the automation of the drug supply chain. One group, the American Society of Automation in Pharmacy (ASAP, [2]) is notable for its retail-oriented mission, "to assist its members in advancing the application of computer technology in the pharmacist's role as caregiver and in the efficient operation and management of a pharmacy."
In the academic sphere, as of July 1, 2007, pharmacy informatics is a required component of professional pharmacy degree programs. The latest standards from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education ([3]) require colleges of pharmacy to address pharmacy informatics within their curricula. ACPE expects Doctor of Pharmacy graduates to be familiar with informatics terminology, justifications for systemic processing of data and the consequences, both advantageous and undesirable, of using technological information and communication innovations in healthcare.
Pharmacy informatics practitioners put their energies toward creating standardized, high-reliability workflows developed through an integral approach that aligns the physical-chemical characteristics of drug products, pharmacy staff needs and requirements, work process expectations and outputs, and available information, machine and robotics technologies. The practice of pharmacy informatics also may involve drug information analysis, project management, customer and vendor relations, communications, system administration, technical troubleshooting, computer programming, contracting and business leadership.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment