Information services company Wolters Kluwer rolled out new digital solutions to help retail pharmacies go paperless in an online, mobile tech consumer world.
The company is well-known for UpToDate, its evidence-based clinical decision support resource at the point of care. Wolters Kluwer has expanded that solution into the retail market with digital tools for pharmacies.
Two new pharmacy solutions offer digital health content to provide pharmacy consumers with accessible medication and health information, the company announced this week.
"Retail pharmacies are doubling down on patient experience and playing a much more central role in educating patients on their medications and overall health. UpToDate Digital Architect helps pharmacists deliver effective care, stay informed about the latest medical advancements, and tailor educational resources to meet each patient’s needs," said Christopher Sullivan, vice president for clinical effectiveness commercial segment at Wolters Kluwer Health, in a statement.
There is a need to revamp the retail pharmacy experience beyond providing patients with medication leaflets, or multiple-page printouts provided with prescription medications. Wolters Kluwer Health's soon-to-be-published Pharmacy Next survey found that two in five Americans do not read the medication printouts that come with their prescriptions, potentially leading to health safety issues.
UpToDate digital medication education helps pharmacies address this issue by enabling them to provide medication education digitally, where appropriate. Often sent as either a link provided via text or email, or a QR code printed on a prescription bottle, this represents a change that could allow retail pharmacies to provide consumers with access to critical medication information when and how they wish, according to company executives.
Almost 75% of Americans are open to using QR code links instead of lengthy printouts to access information, according to Wolters Kluwer's Pharmacy Next survey.
The digital platform offers continually updated drug information on over 3,900 adult and pediatric medication leaflets, covering more than 130,000 national drug codes, including FDA medication guides (when available), 80,000 NDCs with images, and CDC vaccine information statements, the company said.
The digital consumer education solution offers more than 650 interactive videos and 8,500 consumer-friendly articles intended to help patients better understand their disease and treatment.
Digital solutions can help make medical information more digestible and aid with medication adherence, according to Wolters Kluwer.
The need to be more consumer-centric comes as the roles of the pharmacy and pharmacist are changing. Almost 60% of Americans are likely to first seek non-emergency healthcare at a local pharmacy, according to a 2023 Wolters Kluwer survey.
The company's UpToDate platform is used on smartphones, browsers and within electronic health record systems by over 2 million clinicians and 44,000 institutions across more than 190 countries. It is updated continuously and used heavily with users accessing over 54 million topics per month across 25 specialties.
At HIMSS 2023, Wolters Kluwer unveiled a collaboration with Microsoft to use its UpToDate data to build out an advanced analytics platform designed to deliver real-time insights to support health systems in identifying and addressing emerging trends and knowledge gaps in clinical settings. The goal is to support strategic improvements in clinical program management, education initiatives and outbreak monitoring, the company said.