Community pharmacy embraces the online age

Chain Drug Review, April 20, 2009

NEW YORK -- Technology continues to affect the practice of community pharmacy in ways almost too numerous to count, and its impact is likely only to intensify in the years ahead. From telepharmacy to prescription-dispensing kiosks, wholesale distribution to patient counseling and e-prescribing to health information management, technology's role in pharmacy looms ever larger for chain drug retailers.

Technology's interaction with chain drug stores manifests itself in many ways, some of them unexpected. For example, last year several of the industry's largest drug chains began partnering with Google Inc., provider of the ubiquitous Internet search engine, in a project that combines search services with online personal health records (PHRs).

The password-protected service provided by Google stores users' basic medical histories as well as information relevant to various health conditions. Features include a link to help users find doctors by location or specialization and a "virtual pillbox" medication-compliance and interaction-monitoring system.

"We believe that PHRs show great promise as a tool to enable patients to engage in their own health care, and we are committed to working with industry leaders to further develop and advance the utility of PHRs," says Jon Roberts, executive vice president of pharmacy purchasing, pricing and network relations at CVS Caremark Corp., one of the chains participating in the project.

Besides its collaboration with Google, CVS Caremark is working with Microsoft Corp. in the area of electronic health records. Patients using the Microsoft HealthVault health data storage web site can download a comprehensive list of prescriptions they've had filled by the drug chain, save copies of their health records and upload personal health data to CVS.

Walgreen Co., another chain drug partner in the Google venture, sees the technology as potentially helping to bridge the patient information gap between physicians and pharmacists.

"Doctors often don't have access to a patient's complete prescription history, which can lead to harmful drug interactions," says Don Huonker, the chain's senior vice president of health care innovation. "While many patients use Walgreens' online pharmacy to access their prescription history, they don't always provide that Information to their doctor."

One technology poised for a big boost in its impact on retail pharmacy is e-prescribing, notes a new study sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA).

Only about 13% of U.S. physicians currently prescribe drugs electronically, according to Surescripts, which operates the largest U.S. e-prescribing network. However, financial incentives for physicians to adopt health information technology included in President Obama's economic stimulus bill should result in 75% of doctors adopting the new technology over the next five years, the PCMA study predicts.

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