Earlier this week I wrote a blog about telehealth and the need for fast broadband connection in rural areas such as my beloved Yorkshire Dales to enable the connectivity.

Then over lunch yesterday I listened to an item on the BBC Radio 4 ‘You & Yours’ programme on telecare and plans to bring these services to 3 million people by 2016 and take some of the pressure off of the social care system.

Reading my Pharmaceutical Journal (@PJOnline I like the new design!) over a cup of tea this afternoon I found an article on telepharmacy.

A ‘tele’ hat-trick!

So what is telepharmacy? It’s about innovations that make it easier for individuals to access a pharmacist and pharmacy services at a distance. This may take several forms including

• supervising drug dispensing remotely where the technician or even robots dispenses the prescription and the process is recorded by webcams as is patient counselling. This has tremendous potential for rural  areas where one pharmacist could cover multiple remote communities without having to travel long distances or worrying about not letting down patients during bad weather.
• providing medication advice to patients or conducting medicine user reviews. Granted pharmacist have always been available on the end of the phone for advice but face-to-face interactions provide a consultation which is as close to that in the pharmacy as possible. Advice on inhaler technique for example is much improved with visual input.
• monitoring adherence of treatment regimes in real-time and intervening when doses are missed. This could be  through ‘chip in a bottle’  technology or by wearing a connected device to measure vital signs that  would indicate missed dose or that a change in regime may be required

Telepharmacy may feel threatening to some. However the advantages to patients, especially those in remote locations are so enormous that we pharmacists should embrace the technology to provide these innovative and accessible professional services.