Pharmacy Department, Toowoomba Hospital, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
J Telemed Telecare. 2010;16(2):95-9. doi: 10.1258/jtt.2009.090716. Epub 2010 Feb 5.
Only 42 of the 116 public hospitals in Queensland employ qualified pharmacists to staff their pharmacies. We undertook a feasibility study to determine if pharmaceutical reviews, undertaken face-to-face by a visiting pharmacist, could be replicated using telemedicine. The study was conducted in two phases, with the same pharmacist coordinating the project from the main hospital to two rural hospitals, which relied on supply nurses for all their pharmaceutical services. All inpatients admitted between October 2006 and May 2007 were included in the study. In Phase I the pharmacist made weekly visits to both facilities, to perform face-to-face pharmaceutical reviews of the current inpatients. In Phase 2, all pharmaceutical reviews were performed remotely by the pharmacist by telephone or videoconference. In Phase 1, 186 pharmaceutical activities were performed (mean 3.9 per patient). Of these, 78 pharmacist-initiated changes were recommended and 47 (60%) were implemented. In Phase 2, a total of 296 activities were performed (mean 3.1 per patient) and of the 140 recommendations made by the remote pharmacist, 74 (53%) were accepted. Of the accepted recommendations, there were 11 major interventions (those with a potential to prevent harm to the patient) in Phase 1 and 32 in Phase 2. There were no significant differences in the pharmaceutical activity rates in the two phases. Telepharmacy therefore may be an effective method of providing pharmaceutical reviews for patients in rural inpatient facilities, without an on-site pharmacist.
昆士兰州的 116 家公立医院中，仅有 42 家雇用合格药剂师来管理其药房。我们进行了一项可行性研究，以确定是否可以通过远程医疗复制由访问药剂师面对面进行的药物审查。该研究分为两个阶段进行，同一名药剂师从主要医院协调该项目到两家农村医院，这两家医院依靠供应护士提供所有的药物服务。所有在 2006 年 10 月至 2007 年 5 月期间入院的患者都包括在研究中。在第一阶段，药剂师每周两次访问这两个设施，对当前住院患者进行面对面的药物审查。在第二阶段，药剂师通过电话或视频会议远程进行所有药物审查。在第一阶段，进行了 186 项药物活动（平均每个患者 3.9 项）。其中，建议了 78 项由药剂师发起的变更，其中 47 项（60%）得到实施。在第二阶段，总共进行了 296 项活动（平均每个患者 3.1 项），远程药剂师提出的 140 项建议中，有 74 项（53%）被接受。在被接受的建议中，第一阶段有 11 项主要干预措施（那些有可能防止患者受到伤害的措施），第二阶段有 32 项。这两个阶段的药物活动率没有显著差异。因此，远程药学可能是为农村住院患者提供药物审查的有效方法，而无需现场药剂师。
