Consulting rx'ers ride a high-tech info wave

Drug Store News, August 20, 1990 by Elizabeth Richardson

Consulting rx'ers ride a high-tech info wave

New York - Americans' quest for personalized health information on medications, nutrition, diseases and physical fitness is undoubtedly placing extra demands on pharmacists' time.

To help themselves manage the extra questions, pharmacists are exploring the information explosion that has burst upon the drug store industry. Manufacturers, eager to ride the crest of the nation's renewed interest in health, create personalized consumer information systems to add to their pharmacist's friendly advice. The systems range from Kiosk-type structures to personalized leaflets. Whatever their exterior structure, their interiors share a common thread: to provide the best health information available for an information-starved population.

Today's consumer is more involved in health matters on all fronts, sources told Drug Store News/Inside Pharmacy. While health-related information is available from a variety of sources, consumers are more likely to turn to their local pharmacist when questions on disease and medications arise.

"This whole area is based on the consumer's right to know," said Julian Fisher, president of Medical Strategies, Inc., which produces the Pharmacy Information Center (PIC). "It's not just in pharmacy - it's in all other areas as well. You've got people who are checking their cereal packages for salt amounts. Pharmacy is just one extension of this explosion."

Much of this renewed public awareness began with the on-slaught of the failed Medicare Catastrophic bill. "It was really the impetus for all of this concern," said John Aforismo, president of R.J. Health Systems, which in cooperation with Pharmex produces Computerized Patient Advisory Leaflets (PALs). "With its clause stating there had to be patient counseling, almost every pharmacy association began looking into the counseling question. Pharmacists realize it is important to help their customers find out more about their therapeutic needs."

Credible Information

Most of the information in these systems is based on solid, reliable and professional health sources, adding to their credibility. "We have a gold standard for drug information with USP," Medical Strategies' Fisher said. "We want to be considered a community health library."

Dave Shields, director of product development for General Computer Corp. (GCC), states that his company's system, the Med Module, uses American Heart Association standards as a guide for its high blood pressure, cholesterol and fat levels. "We're using figures that the customers have read before," he said. "They associate them with the heart association and want those numbers because they trust them."

Printouts have impact

But numbers aside, retailers and manufacturers agree that the real impact of these systems comes from the print-outs the customers receive. "Our leaflets make it to refrigerators, medicine chests, mirrors in the bathroom... you name it," said PIC's Fisher.

Retailers also benefit from printouts since their store locations, hours and other important information are usually printed along with the other health information. "I have seen a definite increase in store flow due to my print-outs," said a Southwestern independent pharmacist. "It advertises my store and our services to everyone who reads it."

Since prices for these information centers can range from $200 to just over $11,000, depending on the type of system, retailers must carefully weigh their worth against their cost. "You're looking at a relatively small amount to give your patient accessible information," R.J. Health System's Aforismo said. "Just think about all of the goodwill it will bring and how it promotes proper patient compliance."

Some stores that opt to charge small fees for the services might even make money, said General Computer's Shield. In the case of GCC's Med Module, information can only be accessed with a personalized "smart card." It is not unusual for a pharmacy to levy a one-time charge when issuing the card.

"We leave it up to the store to set the policy," he said. "Some will charge six to thirty dollars a year for the card that activates the machine."

Video game?

Although information systems enhance the pharmacist's role as a counselor, problems can arise. The most common is the tendency for children to play on those machines that bear a strong resemblance to a video game. Yet solutions are already underway to discourage the children's tampering.

"The system is pretty flashy," said Chuck Fehlig, director of professional services for Wal-Mart, who uses the PIC system. "We've had pharmacists suggest that the print button be moved from the bottom to the top of the screen - that way that can't really reach it."

Derek Hall, vp sales at McKesson, another PIC customer, said one solution might be to develop a coin operated system, where the pharmacist would give the customer a coin to operate the unit. "It would still be free, but anyone using it would have to come to the pharmacist first."

PIC's Fisher said that retailers' comments, similar to Hall's and Fehlig's, have prompted the company to move the print button, in the hopes of diminishing the numbers of printouts inadvertently produced by playing children. "We send out questionnaires to our customers to make sure we're providing the service they need," Fisher said. "If we aren't, then we change it. You must be concerned that if you give information for public access, then it has to be accessible to the public."