Digital Health Tools Complementing Pharmacist's Role

The need for digital health tools to work together with a pharmacist is vital to properly managing patient care.

FREMONT, CA: In an environment of increasing public demands, workforce pressures, and significant scientific and technological advances, it is essential to define the contribution that pharmacist makes to healthcare. Poorly defined professional role limits can become a source of conflict, and there is a risk that the interests of patients and the public are not served properly. Therefore, the role of the pharmacist must be congruent with the roles of pharmacists. Therefore, here is an exploration of digital health tools that can bring to the pharmaceutical industry.

The necessity of patient-centered pharmaceutical care is increasing. Pharmacists are often the last healthcare professionals that patients connect within the drug chain process. Therefore, they have the ideal predisposition and abilities to provide certain digital health services. Digital health for the pharma industry can help increase medication adherence. Mobile devices have been a game-changer when addressing nonadherence. Patients can get automated alerts to let them know when to take their medications.

The EHR is essential for a pharmacist, enabling them to check for consistency and correctness of a patient’s medication history. A recent study found that 74 percent of patients had medication discrepancies between their patient reports and the EHR. An activity like medication reconciliation is highly dependent upon information technology. Therefore, digital health tools are essential to bridge the gap among patients, providers, and pharmacists. Bluetooth-powered devices, like blood pressure cuffs and glucometers, interact with EHR-integrated digital health tools to help chronic disease management, and take medication adherence to a whole new level. A study on uncontrolled hypertension patients showed that home blood pressure telemonitoring with remote pharmacist management reduced blood pressure more than conventional care methods.

Pharmacists with access to digital tools can interpret patient vitals in real-time and interact with a patient’s primary or specialty care doctor to escalate care as required. Data gathered from digital health tools helps create the right practice methods, expand the current understanding of the disease, and reduce unnecessary healthcare resources.