by Musa A Bello (The Insightful Observer)
musaabello@gmail.com

Over the last 30–40 years, information technology (IT) has revolutionised professional life for millions of people around the world. IT has reduced the need for bulk storage of paper records by organizations due to its capacity to store large amounts of digital data on hardware which is relatively small in size. Also, because IT systems can copy, process and disseminate data, and present data in different ways, computers have been able to automate tasks that were previously repetitive and labour-intensive, and carry them out in a fast and accurate way. For these reasons, the expansion of IT into the workplace – and indeed, the home – has completely changed working practices in many industries. IT has enabled economies of scale, improved efficiencies and enabled new ways of working that were hitherto impossible.
The use of IT means that services can be provided to large populations, yet customised to each individual. Computers have had a major impact on many industry sectors including banking and finance, retail, the service industries – and healthcare. This is evident in the system of pharmaceutical services provision in healthcare facilities, for instance Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika-Zaria uses a programmed software system 'HospiPharm' designed to exclusively handles it pharmaceutical services which is being operated by a Pharmacist, the software tracks dispensary sales, patient records, drugs information and is networked to all the computers. If a patient is prescribed some drugs, all he needs to do is to go to the Pharmacy costing unit where his hospital number will be use to identify him and his prescription costed with unique invoice number, after which he will be directed to go and pay with that his invoice number. After payment, he then proceeds to 'Dispensing and Counselling' unit where the drugs will be dispensed to him after counseling with special emphasis on pharmaceutical care.

In parallel with the rise of IT during the last 40 years, the role of the pharmacist and the society in which pharmacists work has changed considerably. Pharmacists are no longer principally compounders of medicines, as most medicines now are available in a suitably packaged form from manufacturers. However, pharmacists are still responsible for ensuring that the patient receives the correct medicine, ensuring that the patient understands why they should take their medicine, and helping the patient with taking the medicine and being concordant with therapy.
Modern medicines are becoming increasingly sophisticated in terms of their modes of action , so the information available about them is correspondingly more complex. Furthermore, the amount of medicines information available has increased exponentially, with information now available through a range of different providers. Traditionally, information on medicines was available in reference sources - pharmacopoeias and compendia produced by specialist publishers and professional bodies , and also from the pharmaceutical industry . Today, however, medicines information is available from a plethora of sources on the internet.
However, information provided over the internet will not be subject to the same quality processes and review mechanisms as information in the traditional medicine reference sources so, in some cases, this information may be biased or of questionable quality. A key issue is how the most appropriate information on medicines can be made available in the most readable form to the patient or healthcare professional at the point of care.

The increasing availability of medicines information direct to the patient, as with internet sources, means that information on medicines is no longer the sole preserve of the healthcare professional. There has also been an increase in the growth of consumerism in healthcare, with a corresponding reduction in paternalism on the part of the healthcare professional. People therefore see themselves as consumers of references healthcare rather than patients. While, in fomer days, the doctor’s advice was the final authority and was not questioned, now the patient will simply fi nd a different clinician if they don’t like the advice they receive. The concepts of the “empowered patient” and the healthcare professional as “a partner” with the patient in the healthcare process are now in common use among healthcare policy makers.

References
TV Programme "Pharmacists in a changing world"
Stephen Goundrey-Smith: Information Technology in Pharmacy