PHARMACIES SERVICES

Telemedicine and the new role of the Clinical Pharmacist

According to the ministerial decree n° 153 of 2009, second level services for Pharmacy were authorized;  now a Pharmacy could:

  • be  a “public health service”  for the community
  • strengthen its role as a reference point in the area
  • guarantee advice for everyday needs.

HTN offers Telemedicine devices to Pharmacies:

  -  12 leads ECG, 24 hours Holter monitoring

 -   blood pressure holter monitoring

  -  spirometer

  -  pulse oxymeter.

In addition, HTN provides telemedicine services as:

1.  multi-specialist teleconsultation/second opinion

2.  tele-medical referrals   

3. home vital signs telemonitoring

4. home remote monitoring for patients with chronic disease.

All the clinical services are offered in real time h24/7 through the ServiceCenter in Brescia which uses its advance software  platform “SmartTelemedicine Platform”,  an advanced telecommunication technology (smartphone, tablet, internet).

A Personal Health Record is present for every users.

The Pharmacist is assigned a  password to:

 • access user’s Personal Health Record

• view health and physiological data

• print out the referrals.

The advantages of HTN’s services

  • immediate and easy access to a wide range of specialists
  • immediate on-line availability of clinical data such as blood tests or instrumental analysis facilitating the users life who can save time and money by avoiding to go to the hospital
  • prestige for the Pharmacy
  • better reputation for the Pharmacist (quality and expertise)
  • new services offered (The Pharmacy becomes a “health care provider”)
  •  opportunity to practice primary prevention (extensive coverage, quick service, short referral delivery and user convenience
  • Higher income
  • Committed clients (through Electronic Health Record).

A  survey carried out by the Bocconi University of Milan, in collaboration with the Italian Pharmacist Association, stated that 64% of the citizens prefer to go to the Pharmacy to use these new services.

All that is needed is a small corner to guarantee the proper privacy, a comfortable chair or armchair and a personal computer with an internet connection.

The medical-legal responsibility of the Telemedicine service belongs to the specialist that signs the medical referral.