Prescription and over-the-counter medication record integration: A holistic patient-centered approach

Abstract

Objective: Nonprescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medications play a crucial role in a patient's ability to make choices to manage his or her own health care. Often these nonprescription choices are unknown to health care practitioners and thus are often not included as part of patients' health records. The exclusion of these therapies can pose risks to patient safety. There is a significant need to address the capture of OTC medication use in both the physician and pharmacy electronic health records (EHRs) and during the practitionerepatient medication history and reconciliation process. Data sources: On October 26, 2016, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation hosted a forum for a select group of health care industry professionals to work on a series of recommendations to improve the documentation of OTC medication use by patients. This diverse group of more than a dozen stakeholders included community pharmacy leaders from multiple chain pharmacies, pharmacy system vendors, e-prescribing vendors, health information technology experts, and multiple industry representatives, including individuals from the public sector. This commentary is a summary of the insights and suggestions where the group was in general agreement. Summary: Successful OTC medication EHR integration will require system-level buy-in across multiple layers of the health care industry to improve patient safety. Forum participants suggested incremental steps that could be taken by multiple stakeholders to lay the foundation for integration within an appropriate regulatory structure. Conclusion:Based on the results of the stakeholder forum, an agreement formed around one approach that the group supported as feasible: the creation of a consistent and uniform identification method for OTC medications in cooperation with government regulatory authorities.

Impacts of Digital Marketing on the Pharmacies Community in Saudi Arabia and Determining the Future Model of the Industry: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire-based Study

“…A focus on standardized integration of OTC information for new and changing products could potentially increase the appropriate choice and use of OTC products for some individuals, allowing the basis by which they can be integrated into pharmacists' patient care process and team-based care. 16,17 In the response ofto 3 rd question website services are significantly adopted by pharmacies to offer their services. Since the web services are considered trustworthy and more informational that offer a far more direct line of communication between pharmacies and consumers.…”

How can real‐world evidence aid decision making during the life cycle of nonprescription medicines?

“…Even when nonprescription medicines are obtained through a pharmacy, details relating to the consumer, condition, product, and outcome are not routinely recorded. 24 , 25 As a result, EHRs are unlikely to capture most data relating to exposure to nonprescription medicines, or information on outcomes associated with their use. Similarly, most administrative claims databases would not capture information on nonprescription medicines as these would not be subject to reimbursement through health insurance.…”

Medication adherence: Scope of the problem, ways to measure, ways to improve, and the role of the pharmacist

“…Access to this information and the ability to quickly and efficiently communicate information back to prescribers would greatly impact the community pharmacist's ability to effectively address patient issues, such as the inability of a patient to afford a medication and subsequent need for a less expensive medication, educating a patient about the intended and appropriate use of a medication, educating the patient about the intended goals and duration of therapy, and developing a plan to address an important adverse event that would otherwise affect adherence. Demonstration projects and forums have already begun to evaluate issues around defining and improving access to necessary information, but much more work is required before these changes become widely adopted …”

“…Demonstration projects and forums have already begun to evaluate issues around defining and improving access to necessary information, but much more work is required before these changes become widely adopted. 29,[36][37][38] 6 | CONCLUSION Medication adherence is a complex problem. Unfortunately, the large body of research focusing on adherence has done little more than provide some insight into barriers and predictors of adherence.…”