The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia has released its first-ever Pharmacy Forecast Australia 2021, which takes after the annual Pharmacy Forecast report by the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

The organisation conducted surveys with select individuals as "forecast panellists" who held senior positions either as a director or a chief of Pharmacy; had over a decade of experience; and came mostly from the public sector.

A section of the report disclosed findings from a survey concerning the "electronic revolution" in Australian pharmacies through 2026. It ultimately suggested that pharmacists must be "intimately involved" in ensuring that technologies will "emphasise the continuity of care and maintain data integrity".

KEY FINDINGS

• Over half of the respondents said specialised health informatics pharmacists will drive clinical patient safety in 75% of hospitals. A health informatics specialist has an "in-depth knowledge of the functionality of multiple systems to extract relevant data." They also design strategies for systems enhancement or medication safety solutions.

• About 56% of respondents believed that half of the Australian hospitals will have electronic medication management (EMM) systems over the next five years. Last year, around three in 10 hospitals – mostly in New South Wales and Queensland – have adopted EMM systems. Its uptake is influenced by factors such as the desire to incorporate the system to avoid having a hybrid medical record which poses inherent risks. 

• About a quarter of hospitals in the country are likely to implement automated dispensing cabinets (ADC) for most of their inpatient medication supply, according to 61% of respondents. ADCs provide data to evaluate drug utilisation in a ward or hospital. They help reduce the odds of selecting the wrong medications and retrieving the wrong strength of drug preparation. 

• Respondents were divided on whether a tenth of hospitals will have full closed-loop medication management (CLMM) in 2026. CLMM brings together a range of processes from electronic physician orders to barcode checks of medications. It helps lessen manual selection, input and transcription to minimise human effort and error risks. 

• Above 75% of respondents said three in ten hospitals are likely to conduct telehealth consultations and virtual clinical pharmacy services in the coming years. 

• A majority of respondents expressed optimism over the successful integration of My Health Record (MHR) into electronic medical records over the projected period. However, the report noted that the level of integration needs to be investigated as it was not certain whether the MHR will have both information on discharge and outpatient prescription, which are required for accurate medication reconciliation. Moreover, the quality of data and its value to patients and clinicians are yet to be determined.

THE LARGER TREND

Last month, it was reported that the Australian government will invest A$11.7 million ($8.7 million) in medical research for pharmacists to support patients with the safe use of medicines.

Among grant recipients is a team of researchers from the University of Sydney who are working on a programme to enhance community-based medication review. 

Another research team from the same university also received funds to develop an integrated referral pathway for patients with osteoporosis to reduce the risk of falls by cutting back and improving the use of anti-osteoporosis medicines.

In other news, a new study reported that a large number of Australian pharmacies are sending data on vaccinations to the Australian Immunisation Register via automated uploads from pharmacy software.