scholarly journals Electronic prescription as a driver for digitalization in Finnish pharmacies

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teijo Peltoniemi ◽  
Reima Suomi ◽  
Sirpa Peura ◽  
Markus N. Y. Lähteenoja

Abstract Background Finnish community pharmacies have undergone digitalization during the past decade. The introduction of the electronic prescription has had a significant impact on pharmacy workflows, such as the dispensing process. This inevitably has significant sociotechnical implications. We examine the impact of digitalization on the dispensing process and the sociotechnical orientation of a pharmacy. Methods We utilize data collected in customer service situations in Finnish community pharmacies at two points in time: in the traditional workflow, when electronic prescriptions were not in use, and in the new direct dispensing workflow, which is the usual delivery model in the case of electronic prescriptions. We analyze this data in terms of changes in workflow efficiency. We also draw on existing literature to build a conceptual model for digitalization in the pharmacy sector from a sociotechnical standpoint. Results In the Finnish environment, the results, based on our study sample, show that with electronic prescriptions and the direct dispensing model, the delivery time for a single medication over the counter was reduced by 13%. The results also indicate that the process has become more predictable, as the variation in terms of the workflow lead time has decreased. Conclusions The results indicate that the dispensing process has become more efficient in terms of time and throughput as well as more technically oriented and predictable. From a sociotechnical perspective, the results indicate that the technical subsystem has strengthened, and pharmacies have adapted to the new technology in the dispensing process.

Author(s):  
Mark S. Hoffman

There has been a growing body of research over the past several years exploring repetitive behaviors of cashiers in supermarket checkouts. These studies were designed to increase the knowledge about biomechanical and physiologic stressors on the cashier during their most repetitive tasks, scanning products, rather than understand the impact of these tasks on customer service. The research described in this paper summarizes results from over thirty recent studies to determine the corroboration of these findings with the biomechanical research. The results from these productivity analyses showed that when effects of staffing, mixes of transaction sizes and types of tendering are normalized, the Front Facing checkstand was the most productive during the most repetitive tasks, scanning and keying product information, and from the total transaction time. These findings are similar and support those previously reported in the biomechanical research on cashiers using scanners.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 171-171
Author(s):  
John Thomas Helgstrand ◽  
Nina Klemann ◽  
Birgitte Grønkaer Toft ◽  
Ben Vainer ◽  
Klaus Brasso ◽  
...  

171 Background: The risk of prostate cancer (PCa)-death in men diagnosed with metastatic (M+) PCa is high. During the past decade, new life-prolonging therapies have been approved for the treatment of advanced PCa. Even though demonstrated in randomized clinical trials, the impact of these advancements on mortality of men with newly diagnosed M+ PCa has not been described in a nation-wide setting. Methods: In the Danish Prostate Cancer Registry (DaPCaR), all men diagnosed with M+ PCa in Denmark from 1995 to 2011 were identified. Patients were grouped according to the year of diagnosis; 1995-2000, 2001-2005 and 2006-2011. In a competing risk setting, the 5-year cumulative incidences of PCa, other-cause, and overall death were calculated. Multivariate cause-specific Cox analysis was performed. Results: A total of 1,892 (1995-2000), 2,329 (2001-2005), and 2,653 (2006-2011) men were included (total: 6,874). Patient characteristics at diagnosis showed essential differences as median age and median PSA decreased by 1.0 year (74.1 to 73.1) and 134 ng/mL (276 to 142), respectively, in the period studied. The 5-year PCa-specific mortality decreased by 17.0% from 72.8% (1995-2000) (95%CI: 70.8% – 74.8%) to 55.8% (2006-2011) (95%CI: 53.9% – 57.7%), p < 0.0001. The 5-year other-cause mortality increased by 5.7% from 11.4% (95%CI: 9.9% – 12.8%) to 17.1% (95%CI: 15.6 – 18.6), p < 0.0001. The risk of PCa-death decreased for patients diagnosed in 2000-2005; HR: 0.69 (95%CI 0.61-0.79) and for patients diagnosed in 2006-2011; HR: 0.53 (95%CI 0.47-0.61) compared to patients diagnosed in 1995-2000, when adjusting for age, PSA, and Gleason score (GS) in the statistical analysis. Conclusions: A significant reduction in 5-year PCa-specific mortality was observed in a nationwide cohort of patients diagnosed with M+ PCa since 1995. Changes in age and PSA at diagnosis suggest that lead-time introduced by increased PSA use may have affected the results. However, in multivariate analysis, a significant reduction in hazard of almost 50% was observed when adjusting for age, PSA, and GS. Only minor changes in other cause mortality were found, which suggests that the improvement to a large extend can be credited to improved management of men with advanced PCa.


2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aude Motulsky ◽  
Nancy Winslade ◽  
Robyn Tamblyn ◽  
Claude Sicotte

Purpose. To understand how the technology of electronic prescription (e Rx) can transform the community pharmacist’s role through its effects on professionalization. We define professionalization as a pharmaceutical practice centred on clinical activities and made possible by the establishment of professional pharmaceutical services. Methods. We asked 12 community pharmacists who had participated in an e Rx pilot project in the Canadian province of Quebec to fill out a qualitative survey on their experience. We then analyzed the pharmacists’ perceptions of this new technology using a conceptual framework based on the Davenport typology that presents an exhaustive list of mechanisms, specific to Information Technologies, and thus e-Rx, that can potentially modify information management process and then the role of pharmacists. Results. The pharmacists identified five main mechanisms by which e Rx could affect the professionalization of community pharmacists: analytical capabilities of the pharmacist and physician, dissemination of knowledge, integration of process tasks, process automation and elimination of intermediaries. These mechanisms can assist pharmacists in exercising their professional judgement by improving the quality of available information and facilitate the execution of prescriptions by improving the quality of orders. E Rx technology can also strengthen pharmacists’ credibility as medication specialists in the eyes of both patients and physicians. Thus, e Rx can become a collaborative technology to the extent that it improves collaboration between community pharmacists and prescribing physicians. However, the potential benefits of this technology would appear to depend on its characteristics and how prescribing physicians use it. Conclusions. E-Rx proposes ways of working and communicating that were previously unimaginable. These new possibilities pave the way for transformations that can significantly increase the professionalization of community pharmacists. The results of this study indicate that community pharmacists have a favourable opinion of e Rx, believing it can be an ally in their professionalization.


Author(s):  
Leslie M. Loew

A major application of potentiometric dyes has been the multisite optical recording of electrical activity in excitable systems. After being championed by L.B. Cohen and his colleagues for the past 20 years, the impact of this technology is rapidly being felt and is spreading to an increasing number of neuroscience laboratories. A second class of experiments involves using dyes to image membrane potential distributions in single cells by digital imaging microscopy - a major focus of this lab. These studies usually do not require the temporal resolution of multisite optical recording, being primarily focussed on slow cell biological processes, and therefore can achieve much higher spatial resolution. We have developed 2 methods for quantitative imaging of membrane potential. One method uses dual wavelength imaging of membrane-staining dyes and the other uses quantitative 3D imaging of a fluorescent lipophilic cation; the dyes used in each case were synthesized for this purpose in this laboratory.


GeroPsych ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmar Gräßel ◽  
Raffaela Adabbo

The burden of caregivers has been intensively researched for the past 30 years and has resulted in a multitude of individual findings. This review illustrates the significance of the hypothetical construct of perceived burden for the further development and design of the homecare situation. Following explanations regarding the term informal caregiver, we derive the construct burden from its conceptual association with the transactional stress model of Lazarus and Folkman. Once the extent and characteristics of burden have been set forth, we then present the impact of perceived burden as the care situation. The question of predictors of burden will lead into the last section from which implications can be derived for homecare and relief of caregivers.


2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (136) ◽  
pp. 339-356
Author(s):  
Tobias Wölfle ◽  
Oliver Schöller

Under the term “Hilfe zur Arbeit” (aid for work) the federal law of social welfare subsumes all kinds of labour disciplining instruments. First, the paper shows the historical connection of welfare and labour disciplining mechanisms in the context of different periods within capitalist development. In a second step, against the background of historical experiences, we will analyse the trends of “Hilfe zur Arbeit” during the past two decades. It will be shown that by the rise of unemployment, the impact of labour disciplining aspects of “Hilfe zur Arbeit” has increased both on the federal and on the municipal level. For this reason the leverage of the liberal paradigm would take place even in the core of social rights.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (09) ◽  
pp. 519-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Crisp ◽  
Richard Riehle

Polyaminopolyamide-epichlorohydrin (PAE) resins are the predominant commercial products used to manufacture wet-strengthened paper products for grades requiring wet-strength permanence. Since their development in the late 1950s, the first generation (G1) resins have proven to be one of the most cost-effective technologies available to provide wet strength to paper. Throughout the past three decades, regulatory directives and sustainability initiatives from various organizations have driven the development of cleaner and safer PAE resins and paper products. Early efforts in this area focused on improving worker safety and reducing the impact of PAE resins on the environment. These efforts led to the development of resins containing significantly reduced levels of 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (1,3-DCP) and 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD), potentially carcinogenic byproducts formed during the manufacturing process of PAE resins. As the levels of these byproducts decreased, the environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) profile of PAE resins and paper products improved. Recent initiatives from major retailers are focusing on product ingredient transparency and quality, thus encouraging the development of safer product formulations while maintaining performance. PAE resin research over the past 20 years has been directed toward regulatory requirements to improve consumer safety and minimize exposure to potentially carcinogenic materials found in various paper products. One of the best known regulatory requirements is the recommendations of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), which defines the levels of 1,3-DCP and 3-MCPD that can be extracted by water from various food contact grades of paper. These criteria led to the development of third generation (G3) products that contain very low levels of 1,3-DCP (typically <10 parts per million in the as-received/delivered resin). This paper outlines the PAE resin chemical contributors to adsorbable organic halogens and 3-MCPD in paper and provides recommendations for the use of each PAE resin product generation (G1, G1.5, G2, G2.5, and G3).


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Veton Zejnullahi

The process of globalization, which many times is considered as new world order is affecting all spheres of modern society but also the media. In this paper specifically we will see the impact of globalization because we see changing the media access to global problems in general being listed on these processes. We will see that the greatest difficulties will have small media as such because the process is moving in the direction of creating mega media which thanks to new technology are reaching to deliver news and information at the time of their occurrence through choked the small media. So it is fair to conclude that the rapid economic development and especially the technology have made the world seem "too small" to the human eyes, because for real-time we will communicate with the world with the only one Internet connection, and also all the information are take for the development of events in the four corners of the world and direct from the places when the events happen. Even Albanian space has not left out of this process because the media in the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Kosovo are adapted to the new conditions under the influence of the globalization process. This fact is proven powerful through creating new television packages, written the websites and newspapers in their possession.


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