Module 6, Technology & innovation in pharmacy- Intro

Question 1

What is digital health?

Answer 1

• the coming together of technology & healthcare
• applications include improving the efficiency of healthcare provision, sharing of information and achieving more personalised care
• by addressing the challenges that patients and healthcare professionals face on a daily basis, digital health has the potential to transform the way patients engage with services and manage their health and wellbeing

Question 2

What is mHealth (mobile health)?

Answer 2

• works by collecting a patients data during their everyday life
• it provides Drs with the unique opportunity to observe how a patient reacts outside of a clinical environment, something they would never be ab;e to achieve through traditional time slots & clinical evaluations

Question 3

What is telemedicine?

Answer 3

• real-time telemedicine allows patients & clinicians to hear and see each other using video conferencing
• some progress has also been made in the field of ‘telepharmacy’ where videoconferencing has enabled prescriptions to be clinically checked at different departments by a pharmacist working in a single dispensary

Question 4

What are some complexities of implementing digital health?

Answer 4

• multi level tensions that complicate decision making
• competencies that enable organisations & systems to do eHealth well
• cultural shifts that are necessary to realise the full potential of eHealth
• it has been identified that a no. of important cultural shifts across the health system are necessary to occur in order for the full potential of eHealth to be realised
• these are shifts that need to occur not only among governments, policy makers, vendor & healthcare providers, but also amongst the general public

Question 6

What are some cultural shifts necessary for eHealth?

Answer 6

Question 7

What is Australia’s National Digital Health Strategy?

Answer 7

“Digital information is the bedrock of high quality healthcare. The benefits for patients are significant & compelling; hospital admissions avoided, fewer adverse drug events, reduced duplication of tests, better coordination of care for people with chronic & complex conditions, and better informed treatment decisions. Digital health can help save and improve lives.”

Question 8

What are the aims of Australias National Digital Health Strategy?

Answer 8

• prevent adverse drug events, reduce medical errors, improve vaccination rates, better coordinate care and better inform treatment decisions
• sustain a more efficient health system, through less time searching for patient data, reduction of avoidable hospitalisations, and reduced duplication of pathology tests and x rayys which inconveniences patients and increases the cost of healthcare
• improve healthcare availability and patient experience by putting the patient at the centre of their healthcare and keeping people out of hospital
• protect the national digital health infrastructure and secure the personal health information of Austalians

Question 9

How are they going to achieve these outcomes?

Answer 9

• The strategy proposed 7 strategic priority outcomes to be achieved by 2022

Step 1- Health information that is available whenever and wherever it is needed

• by the end of 2018, every Australian will have a My Health Record unless they choose not to
• By 2022, all health care providers will be able to contribute to and use health information in my Health Record on behalf of their patients, providing potentially life saving access to reports of their meds, allergies, lab tests, chronic conditions & supporting significant improvements in the safety, quality and efficiency of healthcare for benefits of individuals, the healthcare system and the economy, patients and consumers

Question 10

Step 2- Health information that can be exchanged safely

Answer 10

• every healthcare provider will have the ability to communicate with other professionals and their parents via secure digital channels by 2022
• patients will also be able to communicate with their healthcare providers using these digital channels. this will end dependence on paper based correspondance and the fax machine or post
• digital communication will deliver significant benefits relating to the safety, quality and costs of Australian healthcare as well as improving the continuity and coordinatio of care & supporting the development of new methods of diagnosis & specialist referral

Question 11

Step 3- high quality data with a commonly understood meaning that can be used withh confidence

Answer 11

• the interoperability of clinical date is essential to high-quality, sustainable healthcare
  
  • this means that patient data is collected in standard ways and that it can be shared in real time with them & their providers

Question 12

Step 4- better availability & access to prescriptions & medicines information

Answer 12

• patients & providers in Australia want safe & convenient digital management of medicines
• by the end of 2018, all patients and their providers will have access to comprehensive views of their prescribed & dispensed medications through the My Health Record system. This will reduce the incidence of medication errors & adverse drug events- minimising harm to patients & creating significant cost savings
• by 2022, there will be digitally enabled paper-free options for all medication management in Australia. People will be able to request their medications online, and all prescribers & pharmacists will have access to electronic prescribing and dispensing, improving th safety of our systems

Question 13

Step 5- Digitally- enabled models of care that drive improved accessibility, quality, safety and efficiency

Answer 13

• digital technology can transform outcomes & experiences of different communities in different way. The strategy proposed a number of pioneering initiatives- these include:
  
  • support for the health care homes trial and more intergrated management of chronic illness
  • development of new digital services to support the health of babies and young children
  • improvement of digital servces for advance care planning
  • improvement of information sharing in urgent & emergency care
  • widening access to telehealth services, especially in rural & remote Australia

Question 14

Step 6- A workforce confidently using digital health techonologies to deliver health & care

Answer 14

• healthcare professionals want more support in learning how to maximise the benefits of digital health tools & services
• the Australian Digital Health Agency will collaborate with governments, care providers and partners in workforce education to develop comprehensive proposals so that by 2022 all healthcare professionals have access to resources that will support them in the confident & efficient use of digital services

Question 15

Step 7- A thriving digital health industry delivery world class innovation

Answer 15

• australians are already choosing to use digital apps, tools and services as the preffered wat to manage their personal and professsional lives
• healthcare professionals also want to take advantage of innovative tools that are not only safe and secure, but integrate with their workflow and improve efficiency
• the strategy proposes a new initiative to support an expanding set of accredited health apps as well as delivering an improved developer program to enable industry and entrepeneurs to expand existing services and create new services that meet the changing needs of both patients & providers. Government will be a platform or industry and innovators to foster an agile & self improving health system that is sustainable
• this includes a health care supply that uses a standardised way of identifying products and their locations via National Product Catalogue (NPC)