Let’s get curious about the systems surrounding us

If you’ve ever worked with a pharmacist who started their career in community pharmacy in the ‘80s/ early 90’s, I want you to ask them what their practice was like at that time. I was speaking to my dad, an Ontario pharmacist of more than 30 years, who was just starting his career at that time. He recalled how you would have to write down claims you would make to programs like Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB), submit them on paper and in a few weeks time you would find out the results of those claims (i.e. if they were accepted/rejected). I was surprised at the manual work that it took to do what takes seconds now, that is claim submission via a pharmacy management system (PMS); you know, your Kroll, Fillware, etc. But I was equally disappointed that there are some processes that we still complete that way today—manual reversals via a PDF form to ODB being one example.These are the stories and interactions that got me curious about how far digital tools in healthcare have progressed and to think about where we’re headed. In 2018, I had been working in community pharmacy for about a year and started attending tech, analytics and public health meetups to get some inspiration and direction for the 40+ years my career would span.I became curious about the digital tools we use every day as pharmacists: how they shape our workflows, how they can be the proverbial rocks in our shoes. And to my surprise at the time, there was a lack of pharmacy leadership and involvement. I couldn't see any of my pharmacist colleagues at the table, determining what the experience using digital tools would be. I’m happy to see that that’s changed over the almost 10 years that I’ve been practicing and excited to see how we as a profession, and as a larger healthcare community, challenge and shape the digital experiences that touch our work.To that end, I want to invite you to ask more questions about why the systems around you work the way they do. I’ll share a few questions that could get you thinking about how we practice today and get you curious about what tomorrow could look like if we lend our expertise and insight to develop a future led, and not just accepted by, clinicians.What problem are/ were PMSs designed to solve and how does their role need to evolve to meet evolving practice?How does direct billing work and what other information is shared and stored by the entities you submit claims to?How and why do alerts around drug interactions pop up, interrupting your workflow? Why are they at times so disruptive and irrelevant?How are pharmacists and other professionals leveraging tools like telemedicine, artificial intelligence (AI), remote monitoring and wearables to support patient care today? Can you think of examples of this in your practice?What tasks do you find yourself avoiding or spending more time than you would like on today ? What solutions do you wish you had to limiting time spent on those tasks ?I’m excited by the conversations we can have in this space and for the opportunity to answer some of those questions, share some examples of pharmacy leadership in this space and share my thoughts as a pharmacist working in and interested in digital health. I urge you to get curious and imaginative about what this space will look like and welcome you to my column, Prescription in Pixels.

Let’s get curious about the systems surrounding us

Register for free access or login.

Blog Author

Catherine Nassralla

Related Topics

Business Topic