This week's class was so much more familiar to me. It felt much easier to grasp the theories. I think I could interpret the internet lingo and abbreviations almost instantly, and definitely much faster than Dr Deng. =)
The thing that left an impression on me most was the analysis of the MM or FF instant messenging logs. Although I've never seen a FF conversation, it became so obvious from all the emoticons and the expressions of emotion. Things like using the terms "pressie" to mean "present", it's just so.....girl.
The Webcam Pharmacy
Anyway during class, what came to my mind was how CMC was reaching the pharmacy world. Guardian pharmacy is now introducing the webcam pharmacy, where if a pharmacist was not present to attend to a patient, he would be able to speak to a pharmacist at another location through a high definition broadband webcam, or so they call it. To ensure that the correct medication is being dispensed to the patient, a "well trained" store assistant would have to show the "online pharmacist" the medication before giving it to the customer. The only requirement is that customers need to have a proof of their identity and age (it is a legal requirement that customers purchasing Pharmacy-only items need to be 18 years and above). All these information will be recorded.
Personally, I am highly doubtful about the effectiveness of this strategy. CMC has its pros and its cons. Of course, the pros are that when a pharmacist is not at the counter, the patient will always have access to a healthcare professional to get the advice he requires. However, I personally feel that patient safety is being compromised. I wouldn't trust a sales assistant to pack the correct medication for the patient. Also, what makes a patient counselling session successful is the ability of the pharmacist to connect with the patient. If I were a patient, I wouldn't feel good speaking to a flat computer screen to tell him my exact ailment. Also, what if I have a sensitive issue that I need to speak to the pharmacist about? What if it were certain women's issues that we frequently (without a webcam) lead the patient into the counselling room where there is more privacy? I doubt that the pharmacist can be "transferred to another computer in the counselling room. In fact, most counselling rooms don't even have computers. Having said all that, if I simply want to buy some over-the-counter medications and I'm not interested in what the pharmacist has to say, then I'd support the idea. But wouldn't we be sacrificing the quality of our services to ensure the patient gets the right medication while understanding the correct side effects/precautions?
Webcam Hospital?
Then again, I read some articles on the web and I realised that even hospitals are using CMC to connect with patients from the rural areas who cannot afford to travel, but are still covered by Medicare and Medicaid, the US Health System's health insurance plans.
source: 10/14/09 - St. Anthony, OSU make rural medicine wireless: Health care: Doctors will be able to work via webcam, bus in remote towns [The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City]
Webcams to Solve the Long Queues at Polyclincs?
It's amazing how people around the world are using webcams and CMC in general to communicate. It's even spreading to the healthcare world. Perhaps in a few years time, we could have doctors communicating with patients in their own homes using webcam technology. Wouldn't that solve the problem of long queues at the polyclinics?
(Come to think of it, that would decrease compliance of medication. Patients might not even bother to collect their medication from the pharmacy, and I doubt the pharmacy has enough resources to deliver medication to our patients' homes. What's more, with the greying population of Singapore, it is highly recommended for the elderly to get some "exercise" by making their way to the polyclinics to see their doctors. Once again, the pros and cons of computer-mediated communication.)
Have a wonderful week everyone =)
5 comments:
Wow, a computer-mediated pharmacy is really interesting and shows us, yet again, how technology can do such exciting things in our lives. But I do agree with you that effectiveness is indeed compromised. The point of having a trained pharmacist pack medication for us is the knowledge that he/she is qualified to do so and our health/well-being is in good hands. Otherwise, why would there be a degree in Pharmacy, anyway?
I agree with you that there are pros and cons to using CMC in the medical world. For example, the recent implementation of the paperless system in polyclinics reduces the time patients have to wait at the pharmacy, as well as the problem of illegibility of doctors' handwriting.
On the other hand, technology can be very erratic and at times unreliable. When we are used to using a certain technological feature, we often wonder how we ever lived without it in the past. So imagine, should this computer prescription system break down, it will probably throw the pharmacy into chaos and once again there will be long queues at the polyclinic.
The paperless prescriptions don't prevent long queues. When I worked at the polyclinic pharmacy, there was this day where the system (it's called iPharm) broke down. So that meant the doctors had to write down their prescriptions on paper or they had to print it out and the patient would have to bring it down personally to the pharmacy.
It went quite smoothly actually, but that's probably because the staff were very experienced and they knew very well how the pharmacy worked before iPharm came into the picture. The doctors had no problem too. It's just that it's really very very hard to read their handwriting. =)
If I do recall correctly, I think there was ever surgery done by doctors far far away from the patient through the use of CMC. So webcam pharmacist is really nothing. Haha!
Youtube has also helped a dad deliver his baby inside their car because hospital stuff refused to help him as there were no doctors present at that point in time!! :p And I think the parents are gonna name the girl: Nissan Sunny! LOL!
Surgery done by doctors far away? Wow. I find that hard to believe, really. That's because surgery really requires delicate skill and years and years training. It would have been a huge, huge risk to the patient's life, and also putting the patient at a risk of infections. Haha something like that would never be allowed in Singapore. Definitely not in the near or mid future.
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