Undertaking medication review by telehealth

Abstract

Background Medication review can be delivered using telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure ongoing provision of care to vulnerable patient populations and to minimise risk of infection for both patients and health professionals. Objective The aim of this article is to discuss the evidence related to telehealth medication reviews and provide practical considerations for conducting successful medication reviews by telehealth. Discussion Leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth technologies had been increasingly used to deliver medication review services, mainly to patients in rural and remote areas, and were accepted by patients. Available evidence suggests telehealth medication reviews may positively affect clinical and cost outcomes, but there are ongoing challenges. When delivering these services, appropriate preparation – using support people, maintaining patients’ privacy, selecting the most suitable technology on the basis of individual circumstances and ensuring good communication between healthcare professionals involved in medication review cycle of care – can help produce best results for patients.

Telepharmacy during COVID-19: A Scoping Review

“…At least one case study from a cancer institute reported offering telepharmacy to patients at-risk [ 33 ]. These initiatives are in parallel with the expert opinion articles that also suggested virtual consultations, monitoring patients’ chronic illness, optimizing medication use and patient education as part of their telepharmacy initiatives [ 20 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. A network of 19 hospitals in China developed a “cloud-pharmacy care” so that patients could consult with pharmacists using texts and the internet [ 27 , 34 ].…”

“…Experts suggested technology and privacy (HIPAA compliance) would pose barriers to successful implementation of telepharmacy [ 25 , 26 ]. It was also thought that elderly patients and patients of lower socioeconomic status would benefit most from telepharmacy; however, it was anticipated that these populations tend to have low digital literacy and may be unable to adequately navigate the technology [ 28 ].…”

“…Additional concerns were loss of privacy and confidentiality and that the most accessible teleconferencing platforms were not secure enough to be HIPAA-compliant [ 20 , 21 , 23 ]. Another potential challenge noted by experts was the need for more time to conduct telepharmacy [ 26 ]. Other challenges included decreased quality of care and doctor–patient relationships, potential for telepharmacists not to be as engaged as in-person pharmacists, deficient reimbursement policies and poor control of controlled-substance prescriptions [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 24 ].…”

Implementation of pharmacist-led tele medication management clinic in ambulatory care settings: A patient-centered care model in COVID-19 Era

“…Hence, it is imperative to provide quality remote pharmaceutical care services. Telehealth is also a vital tool that is required for the optimization of multi-modal medical therapies in patients with chronic conditions 12 . Using telehealth technologies, such as phones and video calls, patients can interact with clinical pharmacists with the convenience of being in their homes 13 .…”

Changing from telephone to videoconference for pre-treatment pharmacist consults in cancer services: Impacts to funding and time efficiency

“…Benefits derived from using videoconference have been described in several studies in a variety of health care settings and professions. [4][5][6] There are very few pharmacy-specific telehealth (telephone or videoconference) studies in either Australia [7][8] or internationally. [9][10][11] Furthermore, in Australia, there is no evidence comparing pharmacist telephone and videoconference consults, or pharmacist-obtained medication histories via videoconference for patients with cancer at their preferred location (e.g.…”