UNIT 1

DRUG AND HEALTH INFORMATION IN PHARMACY PRACTICE

HEALTH EDUCATION
 It refers to the acquisition of knowledge and skills about health

PHARMACY
 It is the art and science of preparing and dispensing medications and the
provision of drug-related information to the public
 The profession responsible for the appropriate use of medications, devices and
services to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes

PHARMACEUTICAL CARE
• The responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite
outcomes to improve a patient’s quality of life
• Cure of disease
• Elimination or reduction of symptoms
• Slowing of a disease process
• Prevention of diseases or symptoms
• The component of pharmacy practice that directly involves patient care
• The pharmacist is responsible for and is to be held accountable for a patient’s
achieving the desired clinical outcomes with the use of drugs

MEDICATION INFORMATION
• It is a term used in place of drug information
• It conveys the management and use of information on medication therapy and to
signify the broader role that all pharmacists take in information provision

PHARMACOINFORMATICS
 Is an emerging field of study that combines the use of information technology
with the practice of pharmacy
 A unique subset of medical informatics that focuses on the use of information
technology on the optimal use of drug information for problem solving, decision
making and promoting safe pharmaceutical care

WHO IS AN INFORMATICS PHARMACISTS

 Knowledgeable both for pharmacy practice and informatics
o Is able to analyze pharmacy practice from analytical design perspectives
o Is able to analyze health informatics technology from s clinical
perspectives

ROLE
• Ensures patient safety
• Provides guidance and leadership for all technological initiatives that supports
medication use

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 • Customize and tailors health information system and technology to the needs of
practice
• Serves as a liaison between pharmacy and other departments
• Provide education to healthcare professionals and managers
• Serve as a resource for hospital staff

PRESENT AND FUTURE CYCLE

CURRENT TECHNOLOGY
 Health Information Systems
 Electronic Medication Administration Records
 Computerized Provider Order System
 Clinical Decision Support
 Electronic Prescribing
 Automated dispensing cabinet
 Inventory Management system
 Bar Coding
 Robotics

DRUG INFORMATICS
Emphasizes the use of technology as an integral tool in effectively organizing, analyzing
and managing information on medication use in patients.”

1 Product Image Help Identify Product Visually

To orient pharmacist/student which brands are
available in the market, supplying what was not
2 Brand Name taught in the academe
Generic Name/
Composition (for Useful for identifying generic equivalents or products
3 Combination Drugs) with same generic name
4 Manufacturer Help identify supplier with products
5 Indications Gives the therapeutic use/s of the product
Dosage/ Dosage Important for patient counseling since this is specific
6 Instructions (Adult) to a disease and to a patient as well
Dosage/ Dosage
6a Instructions (Children)

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7 Administration Important for promoting medication adherence
Help recognize when not to recommend or dispense
8 Contraindications a product
9 Special Precautions Needed to ensure patient safety
Most Common
Adverse Drug
10 Reactions/ Side Effects Ensure understanding of most common ADRs
11 Drug Interactions Important as many patients now take multiple drugs
Pregnancy Category
12 (US FDA Categories) Key as we have a young and growing population
Help tell how many different forms/ pacakges this
Presentation/ Packing: product come in so there is no need to create multiple
Form & Packing (e..g entries in the Medicine Library to list each
13 TAB 10's, 40's) form/packing
14 DRUG CATEGORY For proper dispensing and counseling
THERAPEUTIC Use the ATC drug classification system to provide
15 CATEGORY universality in the use of therapeutic categories
Zuellig med library information

 Drug interactions
 Pharmaceutics (compounding, formulations)
 Pharmacokinetics (ADME)
 Therapy evaluation/ Drug of Choice
 Dosage Regimen and Recommendations
 Adverse effects
 Poisoning and Toxicology
 Teratogenicity and Genetics effects
 Lactation and Infant Risks
 Availability (strength, dosage forms, supplier)
 Identification
 General Product Information
 Laws and Policies
 Cost
 Foreign/ Investigational
 Stability/ Compatibility

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USES AND APPLICATION
Support for Clinical Services  Answering questions
 Developing criteria or guidelines for rational drug use
P & TC Activities  Development of drug use policies
 Formulary management
Publications  Preparation of newsletters
 Writing in journal columns
Education and Training  Providing in-services for other health professionals
and even to students
Drug Use Evaluation  Involve in drug utilization review
Investigational New Drug  Institutional review board activities
Research  Information for practitioners
 Investigational drug protocol management
 Investigational drug record management
Coordination of Reporting  ADR Reporting
Programs
Poison Information  First-aid treatment in cases of poisoning
 Manifestations of poisoning

PHARMACOINFORMATICS TASK
Access  Relevant resources are within reach
 Familiarity with reliable resources
Search  Ability to look for information
 Familiarity on how to use various sources of
information
 Use of appropriate search strategy
Information Retrieval  Ability to get the information needed
 Develop skills in using keywords, synonyms and
related words
 Use of Boolean operators
Evaluation  Ability to determine relevance and quality of
information retrieved
 Develop skills in evaluating various forms of literature
o Knowledge of research designs
o Statistical interpretation
o Critical analysis
Selection  Choice of the best information available
 Rational decision-making
 Adherence to criteria of quality
Organization  Ability to integrate chosen information logically
 Develop good writing skills
 Practice logical thinking

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 Database Development  Build a user-friendly and reliable database system

MEDICAL INFORMATICS
The scientific field that deals with biomedical information, data and knowledge to
help organize, analyze, manage and used information in providing health care

 Pathophysiology
 Symptomatology
 Risk Factors
 Causative agents
 Complications
 Pharmacotherapy
 Non-drug Therapy and Management
 Lifestyle changes etc.

DRUG INFORMATION CENTER

Purpose:
 to serve health care professionals by answering critical questions on drug use
and its possible side effects.
 A source of selected, comprehensive drug information to evaluate and compare
drugs

DIC Inquiries
 appropriate therapy for specific patients;
 adverse reactions to drugs;
 efficacy of drugs;
 drug interactions;
 intravenous additive incompatibilities;
 dosing in renal failure;
 appropriate therapy for a disease state;
 information on investigational agents
 information on new drugs.

HOW TO BE A DRUG INFORMATION SPECIALISTS

 Requires Doctor of Pharmacy degree
 Complete Post Graduate [PGY1 Residency (2 years)]
o rotations in critical care, pediatrics, internal medicine, pharmacy systems
and drug information.
 Complete PGY2 Residency
o Clinical skills such as research and retrieval of drug information, critical
analysis of literature, scientific writing and statistical analysis
 DRUG INFORMATION SPECIALIST

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PATIENT COUNSELLING
 Communication is the transfer of information meaningful to those involved. It
is the process in which messages are generated and sent by one person and
received and translated by another person.

FUNCTIONS IN COMMUNICATION
1. It establishes an ongoing relationship between the professional and the patient.
2. It provides the exchange of information necessary to assess a patient’s health
condition, implement treatment of medical problems, and evaluate the effects of
treatment on a patient’s quality of life.

GOAL IN PATIENT COUNSELLING

COMMUNICATION DURING DRUG THERAPY

-Purpose of medication
- How medication works
- Dose and duration of therapy
- Goals of therapy
- How effectiveness will be monitored
- Adverse effects and how to deal with them
- Drug specific issues

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CONSUMER HEALTH INFORMATICS
A branch of Medical Informatics that:
o Analyzes the information needs of the consumers.
o Develops, tests, and implements strategies to deliver health information to
consumers.
o Integrates consumer preference into health care information systems.
Use of Information Technology to support the health and communication needs of
patients and lay persons

FACTORS THAT LED TO THE PROGRESS OF C.H.I.

• Consumer movement of the 1970s
• Increased demand for information
• Greater participation in “medical” decision making
• Prominence of Self-help phenomenon (1980s)
• Huge increase in health information for lay audience
• Wide spread use of the internet (1990s)

ISSUES IN C.H.I.
• Privacy and security of Health Information
• Unequal access to information technology (Digital Divide)
• Quality of Web-based information
• Concerns about the reliability of Health information
• Quality problem
• Published criteria may not correlate with quality and accuracy

HEALTH LITERACY
• Degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand the basic health
information and services they need to make appropriate health decisions.
• Multimedia and Interactivity to reduce reading burden.

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