Smartcards needed for pharmacists to access records
Patients should be given a smartcard carrying their
medical records to hand to pharmacists, David Mitchell, commercial director
of Johnson & Johnson MSD, said during a Young Pharmacists Group question
time session.
“It would be good if patients could go to pharmacists
and get a prescription for a product, but it would need a smartcard approach,”
he said. A smartcard would help with the problem that patients visit a
variety of pharmacies.
In answer to a question on whether pharmacists will
be prescribing in the future, he commented that the “dream could become
a reality”. He suggested that they could start with repeat prescribing,
then move onto supplying over-the-counter products on prescription and
then onto prescription only medicines.
However, Professor Linda Strand, University of Minnesota,
another panel member, was of the opposite opinion and said that the issue
of pharmacists prescribing was a diversion away from their role as practitioners.
“I would think long and hard before changing the prescribing process,”
she said.
Three-quarters of the audience, consisting mainly
of members of the YPG and the British Pharmaceutical Students Association,
believed that pharmacists should have access to patients’ medical records.
Back to Top
|
