When patients pick up a prescription medication (or have one delivered), two things typically happen. First, the individual is asked if they want counseling from, or have any questions for, the pharmacist. Second, a sheaf of papers is stapled to the bag the medication is placed in. The papers feature information about the type of medication that has been prescribed, what it is for, and side effects to look out for.
Isn’t this happening in the wrong order?
That information, if read at all, will most likely not be looked at until the patient is home. At best, a person could glance at the front page while they are checking out. If they have not read the fine print, how can a person know if they have questions for the pharmacist?
There is a better way.
Just as customers now do banking and shopping in the normal course of a day, transforming the pharmaceutical world into a digital one makes a lot of sense. Yes, there is a physical element to picking up medications, but if we can shift the way we deliver information, we can change the entire culture of pharmacy in a way that relieves some of the burden on the pharmacists and improves patient outcomes at the same time.
Improved health literacy through digital solutions
According to the Center for Health Care Strategies, a non-partisan, not-for-profit lobby group dedicated to improving outcomes for medicaid patients, 90% of adults in the US are not wholly health literate. Sticking with the status quo –– printed instructions sent home to be read after delivery –– does little to address this issue or help improve medical outcomes.
Digital information, delivered before pickup, has the potential to promote meaningful conversations between pharmacists and patients at the point of delivery, creating an opportunity to improve health literacy, reduce medication errors and improve adherence. When people understand their medications, common sense says that they are more likely to use them properly.
Paper-based systems also pose privacy risks and can result in incorrect information delivery. Digital systems mitigate these issues by securely delivering information to the correct patient.
Digital solutions also offer multiple accessibility options in the form of QR codes, text messages, or apps, ensuring that information is always available in the way most convenient to the patient. It has the ability to be easily translated, enlarged, and converted to text-to-speech. Unlike paper instructions that are often discarded, digital information remains accessible on-demand.
Delivering information when the prescription is ready, instead of at pick up, ensures that patients are prepared to ask questions and ultimately manage their medications more effectively.
Enhancing efficiency for providers
Pharmacies today face a lot of financial pressures. Rising medication costs, shrinking reimbursements, and inflation-boosted back-end fees are creating a harsh environment for pharmacies to survive in. Lowering operational costs is crucial for sustainability and continued community service.
Reducing paper and printing expenses is one significant way to save money. Manual processes, such as collating and stapling paper instructions, take 10-20 seconds per prescription. With the high volume of prescriptions filled daily, this time adds up significantly. Additionally, handling follow-up phone calls from patients with questions adds to the task load.
Pharmacists will always be dedicated to one of their central roles — helping others and answering patient questions. However, adopting digital solutions allows providers to reduce repetitive tasks and focus more on patient care.
Environmental impacts
Conventional pharmacy practices are not necessarily environmentally friendly. Due to safety regulations, it isn’t often possible to reuse medication packing. And the pharmaceutical industry generates somewhere between 4 and 8 billion plastic bottles per year — in the US alone.
As we work towards more sustainable solutions (such as paper pill bottles), transitioning to digital patient education material is a simple way to make a big impact. By reducing reliance on paper, pharmacies can save a considerable number of trees annually. For instance, a chain of 100 pharmacies opting for digital delivery can save approximately 1,767 trees each year. The same chain making the switch could prevent 5,890 toner cartridges from entering landfills, contributing to less environmental pollution. Going paperless demonstrates an immediate commitment to eco-friendly practices.
Overcoming barriers and shaping the future
Why hasn’t every pharmacy already adopted paperless patient education materials? There are a few genuine barriers standing in the way. To begin with, regulatory concerns around the delivery of medication information have not been fully addressed. We have to start by educating pharmacies to the point that they are comfortable that digital education passes the compliance test.
Additionally, current laws were written in a paper-based world, without interactive text messaging and digital delivery in mind. Engaging with governmental bodies, such as the FDA, to provide guidance on regulatory permissibility can help alleviate concerns and facilitate adoption.
Fortunately, there are many reasons to be optimistic. For one, consumers are already very comfortable with the concept of digital self-service, thanks to the popularity of eCommerce platforms. The move to a self-service model in pharmacy will fit naturally into most people’s lives.
Another reason the future is bright is that pharmacists continue to be the most accessible healthcare providers. Most Americans live no more than five miles from a pharmacy. The shift to digital delivery will allow pharmacists to take on more of a patient-centric role, operating at the top of their license with services like vaccines, patient coaching and even prescribing medications in some states. If pharmacists can focus more clearly on their core mission of helping people live healthier lives, that is a huge step forward for a system with too few workers taking on too many tasks.
Imagine if the next time a patient went to the window to pick up their prescription, they didn’t simply toss the bag, complete with vital medication information, onto the back seat of their car and leave. Instead, the patient clears their throat and asks about potential interactions with the supplement they are taking for an unrelated condition. The pharmacist is able to have a proactive, constructive conversation that can do a lot of good. And the patient heads home confident that they are on the right track with their care.
That is what true progress in healthcare looks like.
Photo: Hiraman, Getty Images
Matt Feltman is a progressive, results-oriented pharmacy operations executive with extensive experience in program and project management, strategic planning, policy implementation, team training/mentoring, process improvement, change management, budgeting/expenditures, and stakeholder relations. He excels at promoting streamlined and successful operations by setting divisional goals, cultivating internal alignment, ensuring compliance, and utilizing clinical-based programming. Matt has a proven track record of achieving key objectives regarding sales, fiscal management, performance, service, and claims transactions. He is a driven and dynamic leader who instills key structures to maintain accuracy, efficiency, and productivity.
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