The roles of hospital pharmacists are changing and so is the environment they work in. Digitalisation is impacting a vast spectrum of healthcare services ranging from electronic prescribing, medical records and automation to text message prompts that remind patients to take their medicines and artificial intelligence revolutionising treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the speed with which digitalisation to support healthcare delivery is introduced in hospitals, but there are still considerable gaps due to the lack of uniformity and interoperability across Europe.
The Position Paper focuses on (i) an urgent need for investments to improve the digital infrastructure in hospitals; (ii) the potential of digitalization for improving patient safety; (iii) facilitating patient empowerment and self-management while safeguarding patient information; (iv) the provision of appropriate training opportunities to healthcare professionals; and (v) the need to involve hospital pharmacists in hospital information and communication technology (ICT) design and specification.
National governments and health systems across Europe should work towards adequately making provisions for hospital pharmacists and the patients they serve for the digital future of healthcare.
Consequently, EAHP
Have a look at the Position Paper on Digital Health HERE [1]
The Integrating Healthcare Enterprise [2] (IHE) is an initiative led by healthcare professionals and industry to improve the way computer systems in the health system share information. By doing so, systems developed in accordance with IHE communicate better among themselves, are easier to implement, and enable healthcare providers to use information more effectively.
IHE's vision [3] lies in enabling seamless and secure access to health information that is usable whenever and wherever needed. It improves healthcare by providing specifications, tools, and services for interoperability. IHE further engages clinicians, health authorities, industry, and users to develop, test, and implement standards-based solutions to vital health information needs. Information Technologies, interoperability, eHealth and mHealth are core elements of the European Commission Digital Agenda. These technologies are already dramatically changing hospital pharmacies and hospital pharmacists not only in Europe but around the world.
EAHP is part of the IHE Pharmacy (PHARM) [4] that addresses information sharing, workflow, and patient care in both hospital and community pharmacies. This Pharmacy domain started in 2009, supported by EAHP, the Dutch National IT Institute for Healthcare (NICTIZ) [5] and Phast [6].
Amongst the current work in this domain, there is improving information exchange between healthcare providers and organisations that depend on pharmacy-related workflows and processes and developing ways to automate collaborative workflow between physicians and pharmacists in both community and hospital pharmacy environments. The themes for the next years are linked to hospital pharmacy workflows, medication documentation and hospital supply chain.
Further information could be accessed on the following links:
IHE thematic information on Pharmacy:
Thematic information on:
Links
[1] https://www.eahp.eu/sites/default/files/position_paper_on_digital_health_june_2023.pdf
[2] https://www.ihe.net/
[3] https://www.ihe.net/wp-content/uploads/IHE-Strategic-Plan-2022.pdf
[4] https://www.ihe.net/ihe_domains/pharmacy/
[5] https://nictiz.nl/page/Home/English
[6] https://www.phast.fr/
[7] https://www.ihe-europe.net/
[8] https://www.ihe.net/resources/technical_frameworks/technical_framework_archives/#pharmacy
[9] https://wiki.ihe.net/index.php?title=IHE_Supply_Workgroup
[10] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ANluX11cCXPQ6932_ykvcHomugADH2mO/view
[11] https://www.ihe.net/uploadedFiles/Documents/Pharmacy/IHE_Pharmacy_WP_Supply.pdf
[12] https://wiki.ihe.net/index.php?title=Pharmacy
[13] https://wiki.ihe.net/index.php/Hospital_Medication_Workflow
[14] https://wiki.ihe.net/index.php/Mobile_Medication_Administration