Just three months after going live, GPs at the Al-Mudallal G & Partner surgery and Rohpharm community pharmacy in Plaistow, East London are already realising the benefits in terms of patient compliance, safety and integrated care, as well as time and cost savings.
"This project has vastly improved communication between GP, pharmacist and patient," said Jignesh Patel, pharmacist at Rohpharm. "We can review the patient's medication and provide feedback to the GP or contact the patient with concerns. We can be more proactive on the patient's behalf, particularly with emergency prescriptions. Before, we did not know when these were authorised, and would have to wait for them to be phoned through. With this system, we can monitor the process."
Neighbouring GP Barry Sullman is equally enthusiastic. He said: "Linking GP and pharmacy systems is worth its weight in gold in terms of accuracy of prescriptions and time and cost savings of many hundreds of pounds. It's much more efficient. There is no wastage, and no wrong or missing items, because a highly qualified pharmacist is completing the repeat prescription request rather than administration staff."
An unexpected benefit is that patients can walk into the pharmacy to directly request an emergency prescription. The pharmacist asks the GP for the script to be issued. This is sent electronically to the pharmacy where the emergency item is issued immediately. The GP can also send a brief message with the script, so that the pharmacist can offer the patient medication advice and further reduce pressure on the GP.
Dr Sullman added. "We are in a highly deprived part of London - the TB capital of Europe - and our patients are the ones who need an efficient repeat prescription service the most."
The project follows EMIS Group plc’s majority acquisition of Rx Systems. One of the aims of the acquisition was to improve communication between pharmacy and GP systems to benefit patient care.
"We are delighted with the success of this pilot of a service that we believe will be of great benefit to all of our customers," said Rx Systems' Managing Director Ian Taylor. "It is another important step towards our ultimate aim of enabling pharmacy to take on an enhanced role in the care of patients."
Sean Riddell, Chief Executive of EMIS Group plc, said: "This project is a great example of the benefits that can be realised in a very short time from linking up different healthcare professionals to provide integrated care to patients."
Rx Systems has grown rapidly since it began trading in 2004 and it currently has a share of over 34% the community pharmacy market. Based in Hertfordshire and operating throughout the UK, Rx Systems has developed a range of integrated pharmacy and retail systems and services for the community pharmacy, including its core product, ProScript®, a Windows-based dispensary management system.
Established in 1987, EMIS* (Egton Medical Information Systems Ltd) is the UK's leading supplier of software and related services to GP practices. 53.1% of GPs in the UK use an EMIS system.
* EMIS is a registered trademark of Egton Medical Information Systems Limited. Registered in England. No 2117205. Registered Office: Fulford Grange, Micklefield Lane, Rawdon, Leeds LS19.