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Click on this link to view or download i2P in E-Book Format | EDITORIAL Government Health IT Projects
NEIL JOHNSTON
An Information Technology Perspective The following paper was not written by me, but by a person well versed in the medical software industry. The paper was written for colleagues in an attempt to highlight some of the problems the IT Industry had been experiencing in general, and health IT in particular.
It is reproduced with his permission.
The author was well intentioned at the time of writing (about mid 2002) as you will find on reading the material, particularly the last paragraph.
He expected active and informed debate on the issues he raised.
Instead he was villified, called "obstructive" and given his marching orders.
Obviously, there were some vested interests involved.
However, taxpayers and pharmacists have to foot the bill if anything happens to go wrong in such projects as HealthConnect or MediConnect (Project details here).
What is immediately evident is how complicated the entire process is and how there is an attempt to achieve the "final solution" in one hit, rather than a modular progression.
Another writer for i2P, Mark Coleman, expressed similar reservation around August 2002.
This information is published in the interest of open comment, and in the hope that some of our pharmacy leaders will heed the advice so lucidly presented.
The material below being written by an "insider" is laced with acronyms and IT jargon.
The editor has attempted to simplify this, and it should be understood that as the material was written nearly twelve months ago, some changes would have occurred in the interim.
Technology will Solve Workforce Shortage
ROLLO MANNING
An Indigenous/Rural/Isolated/Remote Perspective A recent report issued a warning that there would be insufficient pharmacists for Australia in 10 years time. Technology will ensure that there is a need for less pharmacist and the 3,000 quoted by Guild research may just be enough. Pharmacy Worldwide Dec-January 2003 .
Part 1 : Public Media Reports
CON BERBATIS
From a Researcher Perspective This is the first of two reports by Con Berbatis after a round-world trip from 12 December to 29 January 2003.
Part 1 summarises UK and North American public media reports on pharmacy issues (A to J in Table 1).
Part 2 will have observations and interviews with practicing pharmacists and leading pharmacy figures in Europe, North America and Hong Kong. Quality Care Accreditation IS Worth the Effort!!
TIM LOGAN
From a Pharmacy Guild Perspective I was glad to see your contributor, John Skyllas, decided to join the majority of Australia's Community Pharmacies, and strive to become accredited with the Quality Care Pharmacy Program.
I was also happy to see him acknowledge that the program is probably in the long-term interest of our profession, and that our industry should strive to maintain and improve the standards of quality of what we do.
However, much of the remainder of his article descended into hyperbole and misinformation, not to mention naivete.
(See John Skyllas original article by following this link) E-Record Management-Who Pays?
JAMES ELLERSON
Marketing Consultant Perspective Pharmacy is in the trial stage of entering into a range of new government driven health IT systems, the first entrants being HealthConnect and MediConnect.
Of course there are other types of government systems already up and running that may be used casually by pharmacists, within their business or in their private capacity e.g. lodgment of company returns, various supply chain systems, claim lodgment with the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) etc.
The new health systems are going to generate a large number of electronic records and the need to keep track of them, store them and retrieve them in an efficient manner, is looming as a major issue.
In the public sector, right at this moment, a major headache has emerged in that the management of electronic records has not kept pace with the generation of electronic records.
Nor has the solution to the problem of record management kept pace with the introduction of new systems. Melatonin - I Need a Script for That ???
ANDREW SNOW
Pre-registration Pharmacist Perspective Editor's Note: Andrew Snow is a pre-registration pharmacist who considers himself fortunate to have found a community position that entails the old/new skill of compounding.
Andrew is being encouraged to share his knowledge with readers of i2P in the hope of fostering a rebirth of compounding as an additional tool for community pharmacists to market.
In America, it is big business, and pharmaceutical manufacturers are forever trying to inhibit its growth through government lobbying and the promotion of restrictive legislation.
For those who remember, the step-by-step process of removing compounding from community pharmacists via the Pharmaceutical benefits scheme, destroyed a very useful body of knowledge and affordable medicine for patients.
Most of this medicine was what we now call complementary medicine, which is also experiencing a resurgence, not all within the pharmacy environment.
For those who take the time to have this "grass roots"experience, it can be rewarding professionally and financially. Some Thoughts on the Workforce Study from Where I Sit.
HEATHER PYM
A Division of General Practice Perspective Two events have had me thinking this week - although they were worlds apart they were not entirely unrelated.
The Guild posted "A Study of the Demand and Supply of Pharmacists, 2000-2010"and the executive summary makes interesting reading.
I also attended two days of a training seminar for Division of General Practice Facilitators of the HMR process in Victoria.
There were over twenty facilitators there and the majority were colleague pharmacists. The future…. Is it as Bleak as the Experts Predict?
JON ALDOUS
A Hospital Pharmacist Perspective The long awaited workforce report from the Third Agreement has arrived and the news is gloomy for those wanting an early retirement or thinking about cutting their hours back. By 2010 we'll be 3000 pharmacists short of meeting demand and as far as ever from filling the gaps.
I strongly recommend any pharmacists who intend to be practicing anytime in the next 10 years read though this report (A Study of the Demand and Supply of Pharmacists, 2000 - 2010). It is available currently from a link on the front page of the Guild's webpage. (http://www.guild.org.au) QCPK…. Quality Care Pharmacy Kickbacks
JOHN SKYLLAS
A Community Pharmacist Perspective Last month I wrote about my experience with implementing the Quality Care Pharmacy Program and the difficulties involved.
In that article I took the view that despite the whole QCPP accreditation process being onerous and unnecessarily difficult, I still believed that it was a worthwhile exercise for the profession as a whole.
(See Pharmacy Guild response to John's first article here) GP Cognitive Pharmacy Services.
Is This a Way to Go, or is it Merely a Dream?
KEN STAFFORD
Consultant Pharmacist Perspective Funny how things you write or say can come back to haunt you.
I had no sooner sent off my February offering to this newsletter bemoaning the lack of pharmacy input into the general practice setting than my Australian Journal of Pharmacy (AJP) landed on my desk. In it, an article by Paula Whitehead et al on "The 'general practice' pharmacist", discussing how community pharmacists can provide cognitive pharmacy services to local GPs.
Is this one way that pharmacists can address the problem of "Not enough time or resources to expand pharmacy services"? The Future of Pharmacy Requires
Provisions of the Present
LACHLAN ROSE
Final Year Student Perspective Editor's Note: Introducing a new writer, Lachlan Rose.
Lachlan is entering his fourth and final year of the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Sydney. He currently holds the position of President of the pharmacy student society, the Sydney University Pharmacy Association (SUPA).
In a deliberate policy move by i2P, future pharmacy leaders are being recruited from student ranks as writers.
We are attempting to expose these young writers to a range of ideas, and have them think about pharmacy solutions from the earliest point in their careers.
Previous student recruits have been Jon Aldous, Simon Rudderham, Andrew Snow and now Lachlan Rose.
All are progressing well in their career paths, and you will note that their articles reflect their individualism and direction.
In this article, Lachlan challenges all pharmacists to help in shaping the learning of a student.
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