AUGUST,Edition # 32, 2001

Click on the Newsletter Reader's Forum link to access a forum from which you can express your comment or viewpoint on this article.
The author values your input, so please take the time to register your details, and participate in the only free debate on the future of Australian pharmacy.
Registration is free, and required once only, for permanent access.
You do not need to register if you only wish to view comments.

Last time I talked about how to get yourself a presence on the Internet, without going to the lengths of starting an e-pharmacy.
But even when placing a simple website on to the Internet, professional responsibilites still exist.
The Pharmaceutical Society has now released an interim update of its Professional Practice Standards to provide a set of standards for Internet pharmacy services.
While many of the standards apply to e-pharmacies, pharmacists putting up the most basic of websites should be aware of them.
Incorporated are all the existing Professional Practice Standards, with additional inclusions for an Internet pharmacy, and the way in which it must be presented. Even the most basic website must include contact details and the hours in which a pharmacist is available to answer queries.
(It is a requirement of the Pharmacy Board of NSW that an internet pharmacy must ensure all customers can contact the pharmacy during these hours for the cost of a local call.)
The website should also contain a "service summary sheet" outlining all the services offered by the pharmacy, and copies should accompany any transmissions of goods or information.
Pharmacists must ensure that the Code of Professional Conduct is followed, and this includes ensuring that promotional material or advertising is clearly identified so as to avoid creating an impression of bias.
Any health or medication related information should be based on the best evidence available.
There are companies on the internet such as HealthNotes which will license their database for you to use on your website, and help you to meet this standard if you decide you want to give out this sort of information via the internet. Pharmacists are required to keep a list of medications which they believe are inappropriate for distribution via the internet (possibly including pseudoepehdrine products, sleeping pills, narcotics and other similar substances).
Pharmacists must ensure the reliability of their service by keeping clear logs of dispatches, flagging which items were dispensed for the e-pharmacy on the dispensary system and meeting the other new interim Professional Practice Standard for Distance Dispensing.
Of course the new standards also includes criteria for assessing the pharmacy service for quality improvement, in line with the Quality Care push throughout community pharmacy.
While considerable debate still surrounds the ethics and professionalism of Internet pharmacies, there will always be a niche market in the community for those who find it hard to get to a pharmacy because of distance or otherwise, and these services will fill a role.
The new standards for Internet Pharmacy and Distance Dispensing will go a long way towards ensuring that these patients are not too far behind customers of traditional community pharmacies in terms of professional service.
While the face-to-face interaction of pharmacist and patient is lost in these services, the reality is that they will remain popular for many patients, and pharmacists running these services need a set of professional standards to guide them in their dealings.
The Society should be congratulated for taking the step of releasing these new Standards to protect the users of e-pharmacies, and to provide some support for those who choose to run these operations alongside their traditional pharmacies.
Copies of the interim update to the Professional Practice Standards should be available from your state branch of the PSA.
Ends

The newsletter archives are now fully searchable via the search engine on the left hand side of this page. If you would like to find similar articles to the above material, please enter the appropriate keyword(s). To retain context with multiple keywords or phrases, please enclose in inverted commas.

Previous Article

Next Article

The comments and views expressed in the above article are those of the author and no other. The author welcomes any comment and interaction that may result from this and future articles.

* If you have found value in this newsletter, please share it with a friend, or alternatively, encourage a colleague to subscribe at neilj@computachem.com.au .
* Don't forget to advise of any change in your e-mail address so that your subscription may be continued without interruption.
* Letters to the editor are encouraged, or if you have material you would like published, please forward to the editor.
* You are invited to visit the Computachem web site at http://www.computachem.com.au .
* Any interested persons who would like to receive this free newsletter on their desktop each fortnight, please send a single word e-mail "Subscribe" to neilj@computachem.com.au .
* Looking for an organised reference site for medical or other references? Why not try (and bookmark) the Computachem Interweb Directory , for an easily accessed range of medical and pharmacy links, plus a host of pharmacy relevant links.
The directory also contains a very fast search engine for Internet enquiries

Back to Article Index
Article Archive 2000
Article Archive 2001
Home