Computer Networking to Enhance Pharmacist-Physician Communication

Background: The use of technology to enhance communication about patients' drug therapy has been advocated by physician and pharmacist associations in Canada. The objective of this pilot study was to demonstrate the proof of concept for an electronic network linking pharmacists and community family physicians in order to exchange information about patients 65 years of age or older who were taking five or more medications regularly. Methods: Three community family physicians, 40 of their patients, and three community-based pharmacists with whom the patients most frequently filled their prescriptions participated in the study. Pharmacist-physician pairs were connected through a secure dial-up electronic network. Patients met with the pharmacist to review their medications, including over-the-counter (OTC) products, and the pharmacist generated an electronic profile for the physician. The physician could respond electronically to the pharmacist with edits in order to arrive at a consensus profile for each patient and to discuss discrepancies or drug-related problems. Electronic communication was followed for four months, after which interviews were conducted with the pharmacists and physicians. Results: Patients were mostly female (65%) and were 74.9 years of age on average. Physicians and pharmacists accessed the network a total of 144 times and 96 times, for an average duration of 7 minutes and 41 minutes, respectively. Physicians noted the benefit of learning about their patients' OTC medication use and about issues such as lack of compliance. The most common barrier to using the electronic communication system was lack of time. Conclusion: The electronic linkage was found to be useful. Further evaluation of the effectiveness of this communication system is needed. Patients' access to their electronic medication profile should also be considered for future projects of this type.