Hospital Pharmacy - December 2012 - (Page 969)

Hosp Pharm 2012;47(12):969–970 2012 Ó Thomas Land Publishers, Inc. www.thomasland.com doi: 10.1310/hpj4712-969 Pharmacy Automation and Technology Is It Finally Time to Address Prevention and Wellness? Bill G. Felkey, MS,p and Brent I. Fox, PharmD, PhD† So much of health care is focused on treating problems after they have presented. Clearly this is an important aspect of pharmacists’ work. However, the United States lags behind many other countries in promoting health and wellness. In this column, we address technology-related health and wellness promotion opportunities. e have made the statement before that even with the best designed health care system and the most highly skilled staff of professional caregivers, the health system’s efforts to improve patient outcomes will lead to nothing if we cannot get patients to actively engage and participate in their own health care. More than 93% of the US population is toting around a powerful connection device called the cellular telephone. More than 50% of our nation’s population now uses smart phones. Surprisingly, patients with lower social economic status (SES) use the data connection feature of their smartphone to a greater degree than those of higher SES. New channels of communication that result from this information appliance ubiquity include e-mail, recorded message blasts, text messages, communication through Web apps, direct telephone calls, social networking communication, and even tweets. In the same way that we all know the best channel to use to contact our family members and colleagues, we can ascertain patient preferences and connect with them the way in which they desire. For years, we have observed that physicians achieve only about a 10% return on the time spent in exam rooms encouraging patients to make needed lifestyle changes. We know that people fail in their treatment regimens because they don’t know what to do, they don’t know how to do it, or they are not motivated to make the behavior change necessary to improve their overall health status. We believe that the use of information appliances combined with mobilizing nonprofessional caregivers such as family members and other concerned parties can address all W 3 reasons why patients are failing in their treatment regimens. McGinnis et al1 described the importance of focusing greater attention on health promotion. Their article included a pie chart that examined the proportional contribution of the factors that lead to premature death in US patients. We interpreted these data to also be relevant to the current health status of patient populations. Behavioral patterns (self-care management decisions) contribute to 40% of the health status/premature death status of the patient. Our genetic predisposition accounts for 30% in patient populations. We are usually aware that factors relating to the level of support from others can contribute to our health status. The study reported that 15% of our health status could be attributed to social circumstances and an additional 5% was from environmental exposure. This exposure could take place in both the workplace and in home situations. Health care was reported to contribute to our health status/premature death at a 10% level. Many Americans are becoming proactive consumers in choosing which health care provider and system will care for them and their family. The Internet has increasing amounts of narrative and evaluation on health care providers at every level. It would seem that 70% of the factors that contribute to our health status (or premature death) are life circumstances that can be evaluated and potentially modiﬁed to improve our health outcomes or the outcomes of our patients. Our genetic predisposition is obviously unavoidable (at least it is today), but everything else seems able to be addressed. Of course, our behavioral patterns are the most likely targets as they are the most ‘‘controllable’’ segment of our health status. *Professor Emeritus, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama; †Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy Care Systems, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama Hospital Pharmacy 969 http://www.thomasland.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospital Pharmacy - December 2012

Hospital Pharmacy - December 2012
Editorial
ISMP Medication Error Report Analysis
ISMP Adverse Drug Reactions
Cancer Chemotherapy Update
Off-Label Drug Uses
Impact of Medication Reconciliation on Medication Error Rates in Community Hospital Cardiac Care Units
Review of Intravenous Selenium Infusions for the Critically Ill Patient
Implementation and Outcome Assessment of an Inpatient Antimicrobial Stewardship Program
Azithromycin-Induced Hepatotoxicity
Formulary Drug Reviews
Continuing Education Case Study Quiz (0.15 CEU)
Current FDA-Related Drug Information
Pharmacy Automation and Technology
Hospital Pharmacy Pulse
Index to Advertisers

Hospital Pharmacy - December 2012