For almost seven years, the residents of Pine Bluffs have had only three options for getting prescription drugs: Drive 40 miles to Cheyenne, travel across the border 25 miles to Kimball, Neb., or get them through the mail.
They now have a much closer, more convenient alternative.
Hoy's Drug in Cheyenne, with the help of the University of Wyoming, has opened the first telepharmacy in the state at the University of Wyoming TriCounty Clinic in Pine Bluffs.
Patients simply bring their prescriptions to a pharmacy technician at the clinic. The technician puts the prescription under a video monitoring system so a pharmacist at Hoy's Drug in Cheyenne can read it.
Through a system of bar codes and checks, the pharmacist makes sure the patient has the correct drug. The technician even shows the pharmacist the actual pills through a video feed, and patients must consult with the pharmacy over the phone or through a video conference.
Dr. Douglas Parks, a family practice physician who works four days a week at the clinic in Pine Bluffs, said the telepharmacy is as safe as any drug store. It has twice as many checks as a retail store.
If a patient needs a medication that is not in the machine, the pharmacy technician will bring it the next morning from Hoy's Drug in Cheyenne and the patient can pick it up at the clinic.
"We are having nine to 10 patients a day who are not having to drive," Parks said. "For a parent who comes in with a sick child, they don't have to bundle up the kid and drive 45 minutes to get medicine."
Jim Massengill, president of Hoy's Pharmacy in Cheyenne, said he had looked at opening a small pharmacy in Pine Bluffs before, but it was just not financially feasible. Massengill said it takes about $500,000 to get a pharmacy up and running.
To open the telepharmacy, Massengill had to buy only the communication systems, the new computers and printers for the telepharmacy and the initial drug inventory. Hoy's Drug also pays the pharmacy technician who works at the telepharmacy.
The actual "vending machine" that holds the medications was purchased through a grant from the UW.
"It's the leading technology," Massengill said. "We already have a lot of technology in place here at Hoy's. It just adds on to what we already do."
Surrounding states have been implementing the idea of telepharmacy for several years. There are more than 20 remote telepharmacies in North Dakota, said Ann Rathke, the telepharmacy coordinator for North Dakota State University.
Parks and Hoy's Drug have been working on this project with the Wyoming Board of Pharmacy since about 2004. At that time, the board could only license a hospital pharmacy or a retail pharmacy, which requires a registered pharmacist on site 80 percent of the time. In 2005, the board drafted legislation to be able to license telepharmacies, and it passed.
The telepharmacy finally began dispensing medications at the end of February but is just now starting to educate the public about the service.
An open house is set from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the clinic for anyone interested in the project.
Tim Seeley, the president of the of the Wyoming Pharmacy Association, said he hopes this is successful because there are a lot of small towns in Wyoming that could use a service like this.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment