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EDITORIAL
*
E-Pharma Conference 29-31 May 2002
* Authors
* Going Internet
The
Ides of March -- Part Two
The
first article in this series discussed aspects of a group of senior
government officials (state and federal) who had been formed into a
committee known as the "COAG Senior Officials Working Group".
This working group, had as its task, the development of a series of
recommendations in respect of the Wilkinson Review into Australian Pharmacy.
They were the "power behind the throne" and their comments
did not necessarily support pharmacist ownership of pharmacies, or other
prime pharmacy issues.
There has been little publicity on their comments, and as New Zealand
pharmacists have suffered an adverse finding from a similar group of
government officials, I will continue to publish the working group's
comments to ensure that Australian pharmacists have full and prior knowledge.
Communications
is the Name of the Game!
By Ken Stafford
Communicate-
to transmit or pass on by speaking or writing.
(Australian concise Oxford dictionary)
Communication is the cornerstone of modern pharmacy "add on"
services, be they medication reviews, pharmaceutical care, patient counselling
or any of the multitude of non-dispensing activities carried out by
the modern pharmacist.
Most pharmacists spend much of their day talking with patients but are
they communicating?
I'm sure we have all had customers complain that "No-one ever told
me that" when we distinctly remember taking part in a long conversation
on the topic.
Obviously something has gone wrong with our communications, there has
been a breakdown somewhere.
Dear
John .. I'm Baaaaack!
By
Roy Stevenson
So I haven't
put you off leaping straight out of your postgrad year, or whatever
you guys call it now, and into locum work, which you think will give
you some "experience" before you launch into your own business.
Let me express a personal opinion first.
You probably have this dream of owning your own pharmacy.
This has always been the ultimate ambition of all pharmacists.
My personal opinion is that the days of the one-pharmacist-pharmacy
are finished.
Who
Pays For Safety?
By Rollo Manning
Pharmacists
need to conduct some basic research to establish the merit of blister
packing into Dose Administration Aids if they want to get reimbursed
for carrying out the task.
At a time when the cost of the PBS is under scrutiny, it presents the
opportunity to show how it is cost effective, and may be improved, from
the point of delivery.
The answer lies in a differential dispensing fee to reward efficiency
and safe practice. Words will not convince anyone…it needs action,
and well-researched findings that show the merit in terms of health
outcomes.
Guild
IT Plans, B2B and Dispensary Automation
By
Peter Sayers
In December
2001, I penned an article entitled the CTD120P Syndrome (Is it Really
Close the Door after 120 Prescriptions?).
In this article I referred to workplace stress and strategies to rearrange
aspects of pharmacy practice, amalgamations, and automated dispensing
machines.
To get a sense of the direction in which my articles are evolving, I
have asked the readers on each occasion, to revisit my earlier articles,
in sequence.
I would again request this, and
the link references are illustrated at the foot of this article.
With the recent announcement by the Pharmacy Guild of its rollout of
an IT plan for community pharmacies, I thought it appropriate that I
extend some of the points in my last article, particularly in relation
to automated dispensing.
British
E-Pharmacies Out of Line
By
James Ellerson
Illegal
drug selling, by British Internet pharmacies, is being openly conducted
from websites which seem impervious to efforts by the various authorities,
to close them down.
Despite the fact that it is illegal to sell drugs such as Zyban, Xenical,
Reductil and other popular items (except by prescription after a face-to-face
consultation with a doctor), many drugs are sold via the Internet without
this process.
Some sites pay lip-service to the law by offering a free medical consultation
prior to the purchase of a drug. This is little more than the ticking
of a checklist and an agreement to waive any claim for damages, should
misadventure result from the taking of any of the drugs available from
the site.
Some lessons can be applied for Australian pharmacy, as similar "loopholes"
exist.
As the Australian Government moves to introduce its component of e-pharmacy,
an awareness of the dangers and opportunities needs to be evaluated
by all pharmacists.
Pharmacy
for Life…Or for the Time Being?
By
Simon Rudderham
To make
a decision in your late teens as to what you are going to do with the
rest of your life is a daunting one.
During my time at University I saw many a first year from a variety
of courses lamenting at the first year study center (Manning Bar) the
mistake they had made by choosing the course they were doing; how it
seemed so much more interesting in the Course guide; and how on earth
they were going to transfer to the next course that held their interest.
Is
it Legal?
By
Andrew Snow
It's very
concerning when you speak to students on campus, and you inform them
that you are studying pharmacy, and the response is "Oh Pharmacy
- with all those dodgy students with exam papers".
And this may be true, because there is always whispers of exam papers
floating around.
What is most concerning, that in a recent poll done, pharmacists were
considered as one of the most trustworthy occupations (and I agree).
So what happens to all these "dodgy" students? Are they out
in the workforce, and still cheating their way through?
I hope not.
NZ
Ownership Loss
By
Neil Johnston
In the
first article in this particular series relating to the New Zealand
government's hijacking of the community pharmacy ownership provisions,
I pointed out how the press release issued on the 16th January 2002
by Dr Gillian Durham of the Ministry of Health, was a collection of
cliches and misinformation, which purported to support some fictitious
"mandate".
The press release was totally flawed, but it was followed up with a
carefully crafted series of explanations, which indicated that the process
had been carefully thought out and over a long period of time.
The difference in tone between the two publications was simply that
they were designed to be played to different audiences.
MARS-Rx
(Monitoring and Referral System)
By
Jon Aldous
Can a Domiciliary
Medication Management Review (DMMR) style referral system make the transition
to the hospital setting?
This is an experiment we are currently trying in my workplace due to
a pharmacist shortage. Rather than a piecemeal approach of covering
one patient ward with no clinical service for other areas, we have set
up a system by which any health professional in the hospital can make
a referral for a patient to be reviewed by a clinical pharmacist.
Some
reminiscences from
the National Medicines Conference
By
Heather Pym
I have
returned recently from the National Medicines Conference that was convened
in Canberra by the PHARM committee and the NPS.
PHARM stands for Pharmaceutical Health and Rational Use of Medicines
and NPS , the National Prescribing Service. PHARM is concerned with
policy making and advising on QUM and the NPS is the organisation on
the ground implementing Quality Use of Medicine initiatives across Australia.
Prescription
processing in the Future (revisited)
By
Terry Irvine
Editor's
Note: Much has been written about the daily grind of punching out prescriptions,
with difficulty being experienced in providing value-added counselling
services to ensure the patient gets the best value from their medication.
Do we blame the various government agencies for this state of affairs,
for promoting a system that is delivering quantity, rather than quality,
or should pharmacists blame themselves for not keeping up with the times
and by not investing adequately in all areas of their professional practice?
A little of both, I should think, but the problem will not simply disappear.
Nor should pharmacists consider losing control of core business by allowing
an opportunity to open up for other potential operators (non-pharmacists)
who can see a solution through a fresh approach to the problem.
The time has come to plan an automated solution, and Terry Irvine provides
a vision for this process.
After
the Crossroads - What Then?
In my introduction
last month I began the history of a journey through the practice of
pharmacy over the past 25 years.
The destination of this story (at this point in time) is the West Victorian
Division of General Practice - a Division with a very positive interactive
process of pharmacists and doctors cooperating to overcome common problems.
We have, I think, more opportunities now than ever before to really
practice in the profession of pharmacy but outside the limitations of
the "four walls".
The West Victorian Division of GPs has achieved national acclaim for
its innovative and practical progammes with direct pharmacist input.
This has not been achieved by any magical process - but was built on
25 years of pharmacist/health professional interaction.
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