Digital

Pharmacists in England can now access patient information more quickly through a new Summary Care Record (SCR) 1-click function.

My mobile phone network knows that unless it keeps me happy I can easily (well, quite easily) move to another network. The same cannot be said about PMR systems. It is very difficult to move to another supplier – particularly when the big companies provide pretty much the same offering in terms of price, service and technology. I just don’t get any sense that they view pharmacies as customers, and they seem to have little interest in the way that our businesses are changing. Unless we can find a way to change this dynamic, the gap between what our technology can do, and what we want it to do, will grow and grow. This could potentially be crippling to pharmacy businesses in an age when customers are increasingly chasing digital by default and struggle to engage with analog pharmacy systems.

Plans to have a pharmacist independent prescriber (PIP) employed in every community pharmacy in Wales by 2030 have been announced

The Co-op said it plans to “disrupt” healthcare and grow the online prescription market as it launched a new app that is available to its 4.6 million members

An increased focus on health technology will change the way pharmacists work. The question is – how quickly?

Transformation director Chris Ellett is helping to guide the multiple through hub-and-spoke dispensing and new technology

The organisation has been set up to deliver on the health secretary’s tech vision and the NHS Long Term Plan

The Government is backing digital healthcare in a big way, but is the public interest there yet?

Self-test diagnostic and health monitoring devices can help people to be more in control of their own health

Boots has acquired a digital health company in a move that will link customers to their GP records

By Jeremy Meader, managing director of Numark Does NHS England or the Department of Health and Social Care recognise and appreciate fully the contribution of community pharmacy? We all know the answer to that, but actually it is the wrong question. What we need to ask is how we can change that dynamic, move forward and secure a future that is financially sustainable, improves outcomes for patients and demonstrably helps the NHS address the huge challenges it faces.

The figure includes ‘lost output’ of patient care caused by reduced access to information and cancelled appointments, and additional IT support provided to restore data and systems

The policy paper from NHS Digital says the state of online services, basic IT and clinical tools in health and care is far behind where it needs to be

With the acquisition of a digital repeat prescription platform, the Co-op Group is to re-enter the pharmacy sector four years after selling off its chain of brick-and-mortar community pharmacies

Proposed changes include updates to the Code to better reflect the central role of digital, including online communication, and changes to certification arrangements

Changes to the NHS website include more accessible content, better mobile device experience, new content for helping people to manage long-terms conditions, and improved page design

Now Healthcare Group, which is behind the ‘Now Patient’ app, says the service will be particularly helpful to those who “have suffered through recent community pharmacy cuts”

Consumers live in a digital world and while that presents certain challenges, community pharmacy has to engage with that world and take advantage of what it offers, said AAH's Joe McKenna.