Due to the expected increase in eprescribing technology, many pharmacies are preparing new techniques that will allow them to better manage the stream of data they receive from the nation's medical professionals. For example, on November 4, Walgreens announced plans to give Apple iPads to 20 pharmacists in the Chicago area.
According to the company and many medical experts, the iPads could help free up pharmacists from more routine tasks so that they can play a bigger role in the medical process, and give its employees more access to a patient's medical records and prescription history. The company expects the new devices to allow pharmacists to talk to patients and even help them with complicated decisions such as comparing Medicare plans.
Overall, healthcare experts speculate that the widespread use of iPads in pharmacies could help ensure that more patients take their intended medications, a problem that costs the system nearly $300 billion a year, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.
"Mobile technologies have a huge role to play in health maintenance, even though there are still issues to be resolved in dealing with applications that are mission critical," Maribel Lopez, CEO of market research firm Lopez Research, told the Sun-Times. "Health providers have to mitigate the challenges of security, privacy issues and regulatory compliance in order to reap mobile benefits."
To better navigate these pitfalls, doctors and small medical facility managers may want to make their transition to eprescribing with the help of a company that can provide installation, support and EMR computer hardware. By developing a relationship with a provider, doctors can get consultation on the steps they can take to better serve their patients and work more effectively with community pharmacies. This provide can also provide troubleshooting on clients' product of choice, whether it's Lytec, Medisoft or Allscripts software.
