AI tool saves major time sourcing drug information

After a decade working in community pharmacy, Ontario Pharmacist Kenny Chan knew first-hand how much valuable time he and his colleagues were losing digging through data bases to find the right, evidence-based drug information. He also saw the growing potential of artificial intelligence tools. So, he connected with pharmacy science researcher and software developer Olexiy Pukhov—a like-minded friend he’d met at a past pharmacy conference and befriended on Facebook—to figure out a way to help clinicians make faster and safer drug therapy decisions with the help of AI. A year later, the duo is doing just that with the launch of their company Aiskyra and an AI Drug Info Assistant that provides access to more than 120,000 pages of Health Canada drug monographs, 40,000+ pages of clinical guidelines and more then one million PubMed articles in real time. Chan says that the tool has already curated answers for more than 8,500 drug therapy questions and saved an estimated 1,400 hours in research hours compared to traditional methods.“Pharmacists want to answer all their patients’ questions but they don’t always have the time,” he says, speaking from his experience in the community dealing with senior patients with complicated health histories. Anyone involved in drug therapy can benefit from the tool, he says, including family physicians, hospital and community pharmacists, nurse practitioners and students. “We have a good population of students who are using this to develop patient cases and to answer follow-up questions when their professors aren’t available.”Read: Nolan's Pharmasave: Creating a dedicated space for clinical servicesAs someone who has been using the AI tool for the past eight months—and the only pharmacist on her shifts—Man Ying Ho says she appreciates having the “virtual colleague” to consult when needed. “Instead of referencing different resources, guidelines and articles, you can have a very natural conversation with Aiskyra and get access to the same information but at a fraction of the time,” she says. “I also enjoy how you can ask for refreshers on clinical topics you might not encounter on a daily basis as a way to help with continuing education.”She says the tool has also been a great resource in helping to find equivalent dosing when medications need to be switched due to drug shortages. “Aiskyra will never be rude if you have follow-up questions and you can truly grow your own understandings at your own pace without fear of being judged of asking ‘dumb’ questions,” she says. In leading the technical components of the AI Drug Info Assistant, Pukhov says the attention to accuracy and detail has been imperative. Aiskyra mimics the thought process of a pharmacist, such as considering renal function, deprescribing needs, evidence strength and patient context. It also provides transparent citations, often down to the specific page, and lets users choose between detailed medical, concise clinical or patient-friendly text output. The database is also curated and reviewed every few months to ensure clinical relevance. Read: Immunizing the world one injection at a timeRight now the tool works as a standalone app or website users can go to for questions. But going forward, Chan says the goal is to get the tool integrated in all existing clinical and pharmacy software. “Aiskyra is building toward a future where AI support is embedded directly into clinician workflows, not just accessed on demand,” he says.Chan and Pukhov are currently working on a pilot project with a telepharmacy company to evaluate how their tool can help drug information pharmacists improve efficiency in workflow and reduce customer response time. They are also exploring potential partnerships with long-term care (LTC) pharmacies and offering a free ROI case study for interested LTC pharmacy owners to demonstrate how AI can support pharmacists in completing medication reviews more efficiently and with better documentation. All first-time Aiskyra users receive a free trial for 14 days and 50 questions.

AI tool saves major time sourcing drug information

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