Ensuring Continuity of Medicines Supply by Empowering Pharmacy Services with Remote Clinical Support

2020年3月，社区药店进入超负荷运转，患者在新冠肺炎的恐慌中蜂拥至商店。每家药店都面临着前所未有的需求，配药量是平时处方数量的几倍。与此同时，他们经历了库存短缺和工作人员缺勤，这进一步增加了压力。一些药房也不得不增加送货服务，资源紧张，成本增加。目前的情况对药剂业造成了极大的影响，给前线的药剂师带来了极大的负担，其中许多药剂师已经接近崩溃。如果药剂师生病，如果药店关门，这将严重扰乱全国的药品供应，并在最需要健康建议的时候减少国民健康保险制度的宝贵健康建议资源。我们考虑了我们的技术如何能够提供一种创新的方法，在新冠肺炎危机期间支持该行业。我们的新药房操作系统Titan于2019年获得NHS Digital的认证，使其成为10多年来第一个进入药房市场的新配药系统，旨在改变处方的处理方式。该解决方案现已在英格兰和威尔士的30个“开拓者”网站实施，并计划在今年实现雄心勃勃的增长。Titan是市场上唯一能够将配药过程分解为不同数字阶段的基于云的药房平台。关键需要药剂师参与的步骤是对每一张处方进行临床检查。鉴于新冠肺炎，我们探索了一个想法，可以让远程药剂师在家工作来进行临床检查。这将重新分配工作量，极大地缓解来自药房的压力，同时调动未开发的资源。我们的新概念泰坦团队为药店引入了一项“Uber”式的服务，在维护患者安全的同时，显著提高了他们在未来几个月应对的机会。商业主导的创新基金将使我们能够开发一个符合所有监管和专业要求的功能系统。我们将在几周内将该系统初步发布到泰坦开拓者网站，一旦模型得到验证，然后将其与泰坦一起提供给更广泛的制药部门。-扩展影响--尽管最初的项目针对的是‘商业街’药店，但该项目的扩展将使我们能够将泰坦团队实施到大型仓库药店。Covid的流行推动了在线药房供应商的数量增加，其中许多运营商的配药活动出现了指数级的增长。这种增长给他们的业务带来了压力。在这样的药房使用Titan的地方，我们有可能引入Titan团队，允许他们将临床服务分发和外包给在家工作的药剂师。这一创新将对在线药房服务的成功做出重大贡献。

During March 2020, community pharmacies went into overdrive as patients flocked to stores amid the panic of Covid-19\. Every pharmacy faced unprecedented demand, dispensing several times their usual prescription volumes. At the same time, they experienced stock shortages and staff absences which has added further pressure. Some pharmacies have also had to lay on additional delivery services, stretching their resources and increasing costs.The current situation has greatly impacted the pharmacy sector putting extreme burden on pharmacists on the frontline, many of which are close to breaking point. If pharmacists were to fall ill and if pharmacies were to close, this would significantly disrupt the supply of medicines across the country and reduce a valuable NHS resource for health advice at a time when this is needed the most.We considered how our technology could offer an innovative approach to supporting the sector during the Covid-19 crisis. Our new pharmacy operating system, Titan, was accredited by NHS Digital in 2019 making it the first new dispensing system to launch into the pharmacy market in over 10 years and aims to transform the way prescriptions are processed. The solution has now been implemented into 30 'trailblazer' sites across England and Wales with ambitious growth planned this year.Titan is the only cloud-based pharmacy platform on the market capable of breaking down the dispensing process into distinct digital stages. The step which crucially requires pharmacist involvement is that of clinically checking every prescription. In light of Covid-19, we explored an idea where clinical checks could be performed by remote pharmacists working from home. This would redistribute workload and greatly ease pressure from pharmacies whilst mobilising untapped resources at the same time.Our new concept of Titan Teams introduces an 'Uber' style service to pharmacies, significantly improving their chances of coping in the months ahead whilst upholding patient safety. The Business Led Innovation Grant will enable us to develop a functional system which complies with all regulatory and professional requirements. We will initially release this system to Titan Trailblazer sites within a matter of weeks and once the model is proven, then make this available to the wider pharmacy sector alongside Titan.---EXTENSION FOR IMPACT---Whereas the original project targeted 'high street' pharmacies, the Extension of the project will allow us to implement Titan Teams to large scale warehouse pharmacies. The Covid pandemic has driven greater volume to online pharmacy providers and many of these operators have seen exponential growth in their dispensing activities. This growth has put strain on their operations. Where such pharmacies use Titan, we have the potential to introduce Titan Teams allowing them to distribute and outsource the clinical services to pharmacists working from home. This innovation would make a significant contribution to the success of online pharmacy services.