Investigation on the Use of an Automated Question-and-Answer Post-Dispensing Follow-up Application during the Medication Period / 医薬品情報学

Objective: Continuous medication management is demanded from community pharmacists, including mandatory follow-ups (FUs) during the medication period. To improve their efficiency and quality, a software application (app) is being introduced. We investigated the use of the app for FUs by comparing it to the use of phone calls.Design: This was a retrospective studythat collected FU records from participating pharmacies.Methods: FU records of an automated question-and-answer post-dispensing app and phone calls made at 10 pharmacies in June-July 2021 were collected. Differences in the work time and contents of each FU tool were evaluated.Results: Of the 138 eligible cases, 69 (50.0%) used the app and 62 (44.93%) used phones. There was 1 case of FU interruption using the app and 12 for those using phone calls. Preparation time to initiate FU was shorter using the app than phone calls (0.28 ± 0.96 min vs. 5.06 ± 5.44 min). Moreover, there were more cases of pharmaceutical problems identified using the app than phone calls (69.57% vs. 35.48%).Conclusion: The FU app maybe a more efficient tool for identifying problems than phone calls. Further studies are needed to optimize the tool according to patient characteristics.

Verification of the Effectiveness of the Health Support Pharmacy “Toyonaka Model,” an Industry-Government-Academia Collaboration Project Aiming to Promote Community Health through the Information from Community Pharmacies via Digital Signages / 社会薬学

Advances in information and communication technology (ICT)-especially, the spread of social networking services (SNSs)-have facilitated the dissemination of information and an explosion of health information lacking scientific evidence. Therefore, we believe that community pharmacies are the most suitable bases for distributing health information. In 2019, we launched the health support pharmacy “Toyonaka Model” in collaboration with the pharmaceutical association, municipal government, and university. Touch-panel digital signage (DS) was used for real-time distribution of ever-changing information and a rapid grasp of pharmacy users’ responses to various types of information. Between September 2019 and August 2021, one DS was installed in a pharmacy in each of Toyonaka City’s seven areas along with 14 questions on the usefulness of the delivered information. Respondents answered the 14 questions by a tablet or questionnaire; touch logs for DS were collected. When a pharmacy user consulted with a pharmacist about information delivered via DS, the contents were recorded and described by the pharmacist on a 4-point scale (e.g., “inquiry only,” “went through to execution”). From the 850 completed questionnaires and 61,565 touches, 88.7% of the respondents indicated that the information was useful, and 90.0% expressed interest in receiving more health information in the future. Thus, health information provided by DS may be useful to pharmacy users, as demonstrated by 113 cases in which the pharmacist was consulted regarding such information. In 62 of these cases, there were indications that the DS information might have influenced users’ behavior and intended actions.