Telepharmacy is ‘next frontier’ of pharmacy practice

As community pharmacists take on a greater role in patient care, people living in remote rural areas often are unable to take full advantage of the services these professionals offer.

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In an effort to remedy the situation, a handful of pharmacy providers, technology companies and educational institutions have been developing sophisticated telepharmacy systems to ensure that even those living hundreds of miles from the nearest drug store can consult with a pharmacist.



Currently, about half of the states and Washington, D.C., allow telepharmacy, while more than a dozen others states are either considering it or have pending legislation to allow the practice.



“Telepharmacy services produce the same quality as the traditional mode of delivery and provide some value-added features that are not found in traditional pharmacy practice,” said Charles Peterson, dean of the North Dakota College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Sciences and the director of the school’s decade-old ND Telepharmacy Project.



More than 80 pharmacies across North Dakota, and a portion of neighboring Minnesota, offer telepharmacy services, including more than 50 retail pharmacies and nearly nearly 30 hospital pharmacies.



One of the most active drug chains in the project is Thrifty White. The 91-store chain began offering telepharmacy in 2003 with a single site. Since then, it has expanded its effort to include eight sites in North Dakota and Minnesota. Operating in communities with populations of fewer than 1,000, Thrifty White’s telepharmacy sites offer patients the opportunity to video conference with a pharmacist and get medication therapy managment. Prescriptions at the telepharmacy sites are filled by technicians and verified by the consulting pharmacists at the central location.



Pharmacy executives and the providers of the techology behind telemedicine systems say the telehealth services have allowed patients living in these small towns to get a level of care they would not have otherwise been able to receive.



“Telepharmacy represents the next exciting frontier in the practice of pharmacy,” said Mike Coughlin, president and CEO at ScriptPro, one of the first companies to offer telepharmacy systems.