Prospect of Tele-Pharmacists in COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Bangladesh

Abstract

Telemedicine and telehealth technologies are especially effective during epidemic outbreaks, when health authorities recommend implementing social distance systems. Currently, coronavirus COVID-19 has affected 210 countries around the world, killed more than 240,000 and infected more than 3.4 million, according to worldometer, 03 May, 2020. Home-care is especially important in these situations because hospitals are not seemingly safe during pandemic outbreaks. Also, the chance to get out of the home during the lockdown period is limited. Telephone-based measures improve efficiency by linking appropriate information and feedback. It can also help provide education at distance on various health issues and topics. In addition to increasing access to healthcare, telemedicine is a fruitful and proactive way to provide a variety of benefits to patients seeking healthcare; diagnose and monitor critical and chronic health conditions; improve healthcare quality and reduce costs. The article reveals scope of pharmacy professionals in telemedicine sector during epidemic outbreaks.

Telepharmacy during COVID-19: A Scoping Review

“…A case study from 54 Commonwealth countries reported issues with the internet, social isolation, difficulty keeping a regular schedule, difficulty accessing tools, lack of physical workspace and difficulty communicating with co-workers as challenges to telepharmacy [ 40 ]. Reimbursement issues were also noted by one case study from Bangladesh [ 47 ]. A challenge not noted by expert opinion was limited legislation allowing implementation of telepharmacy; this was also seen in the literature review articles [ 37 , 41 , 47 ].…”

“…The most commonly observed telepharmacy initiatives were virtual consultations, home delivery of medicines and patient education based on case studies and original research articles [ 35 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ]. At least one case study from a cancer institute reported offering telepharmacy to patients at-risk [ 33 ].…”

“…The available case studies reflect many of the challenges hypothesized by expert opinions. It was seen that older generations had more difficulty participating in telepharmacy visits, and there were populations—elderly patients and those of lower socioeconomic status—with limited access to technology [ 32 , 39 , 47 ]. Telepharmacy visits also require additional resources for scheduling appointments, familiarizing patients with technology and troubleshooting technological issues [ 32 , 35 , 47 ].…”

“…It was seen that older generations had more difficulty participating in telepharmacy visits, and there were populations—elderly patients and those of lower socioeconomic status—with limited access to technology [ 32 , 39 , 47 ]. Telepharmacy visits also require additional resources for scheduling appointments, familiarizing patients with technology and troubleshooting technological issues [ 32 , 35 , 47 ]. The challenges aforementioned, along with obtaining consent before the visit, can increase the time for telepharmacy visits [ 32 , 35 ].…”

“…The challenges aforementioned, along with obtaining consent before the visit, can increase the time for telepharmacy visits [ 32 , 35 ]. The privacy issues that were uncovered included digital privacy as well as challenges in finding the physical space for pharmacists to conduct private teleconsultations [ 43 , 47 , 49 ]. Decreased quality of care was seen in the form of increased dispensing and filling errors by pharmacies utilizing remote services and the inability to adapt assessment tools for telepharmacy usage [ 33 , 35 , 37 , 42 ].…”