The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) released its digital health report, ‘Connecting the dots: Digitally empowered pharmacists,’ funded by the Australian Digital Health Agency.
The report described how digital health initiatives and technological transformation will empower pharmacists to be more accountable and responsible for medicine safety and efficacy.
“Gaps in information and time delays in accessing important information are the two most significant factors contributing to medicine misadventure,” said PSA National President Dr Chris Freeman.
Medicine-related problems cause 250,000 hospital admissions and 400,000 emergency department presentations in Australia each year.
Key projects that will undergo transformation include:
- Electronic prescriptions
- Real-time prescription monitoring
- Pharmacist input into My Health Record
- Enhanced incident reporting capabilities
- Improving pharmacovigilance
- Improved medicine information for consumers
“This transformation will connect the dots of a currently fragmented health system, where health professionals such as pharmacists have had to make health decisions without accessing sometimes critical health information,” said Dr Freeman.
