# The Electronic Pharmacist



## mathepac (8 Apr 2021)

It must be tough working in a pharmacy / dispensing chemist's these days, with queues, number restrictions, sanitizing, etc, and fielding extra telephone traffic.

For some time now I've been using my pharmacist's email address and sending a tiny PDF  once a month to save visiting or phoning - reduced contacts, more pharmacy time for pharmacy and dispensing work.

It's a simple spreadsheet that calculates your requirements come renewal time when you change the entry in the "On-hand" cell for the relevant drug and creates an entry in the "No. of Items to Dispense" cell and totals them. This is a cross-check for the pharmacist and customer on the number of items in the bag. 

It seemed so blindingly obvious I didn't suggest it in here before for fear of insulting the company.

Once the computer cools down and the spreadsheet finishes its enormous calculations, simply print to PDF and email the tiny file to the pharmacist. You can choose to close the spreadsheet without saving or save with a new name and the same for the PDF.

Any and all suggestions, criticisms, monetary rewards welcome.  Bank A/C details to follow!

PS The pharmaist can choose to close the electronic loop by responding to your email once your prescription is ready for collection


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## EasilyAmused (9 Apr 2021)

I phone my doctor every six months to renew prescription and she sends it to my pharmacy. I phone my pharmacy when I want to collect my meds. Then I drop in a few hours later, where usually there’s no queue. 

“eMedication” or “VirtualDrugs” would streamline things.


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## Purple (9 Apr 2021)

Why not just have an on-line pharmacy service for repeat prescriptions which cuts out the expensive Pharmacists and saves the citizens and the State money? 
I suppose if the HSE ran it it will cost more...


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## EasilyAmused (9 Apr 2021)

The restrictions on medication in this country are very severe.
Unless it’s your local pharmacy it can be very difficult to get Solpadeine in an urban chemists in Ireland. 
Meanwhile in Italy you can get Rohypnol without prescription.
And that’s just “drugs”.

When you buy Methylated Spirits in an Irish pharmacy, they have to make a note of it in a book. Which is regularly checked by some official. 
In Italy you can buy 90% (180 proof) alcohol in a pharmacy. And it’s edible though needs dilution.


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## Leo (9 Apr 2021)

EasilyAmused said:


> The restrictions on medication in this country are very severe.
> Unless it’s your local pharmacy it can be very difficult to get Solpadeine in an urban chemists in Ireland.


The restrictions here, particularly on medicines containing codeine are based on the associated addiction issues and related costs to our heath service.


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## mathepac (10 Apr 2021)

In the sticks, where pharmacies are smaller with fewer employees and probably only a single phone line, ringing in to renew can be an exercise in futility and severe exasperation. Two hours today trying to get worm-doses for the doggies. emailed renewals for the mutts too every three months or so.


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## RedOnion (10 Apr 2021)

Leo said:


> The restrictions here, particularly on medicines containing codeine are based on the associated addiction issues and related costs to our heath service.


If anyone wants evidence of this, ask for Citric Acid in a pharmacy in any large urban centre. It's not even a medication or alcohol. 

Can lead to some interesting questions!


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## EasilyAmused (10 Apr 2021)

Leo said:


> The restrictions here, particularly on medicines containing codeine are based on the associated addiction issues and related costs to our heath service.


Aspirin is another thing. In the USA you can get an enormous bottle of aspirin for a few dollars. About 500 tablets loose in a clear plastic bottle, for a few dollars.

What’s the biggest pack size here? And how much? Does the availability of aspirin impact on our health services that much? But that’s not the case elsewhere?


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## EasilyAmused (10 Apr 2021)

RedOnion said:


> If anyone wants evidence of this, ask for Citric Acid in a pharmacy in any large urban centre. It's not even a medication or alcohol.
> 
> Can lead to some interesting questions!


Same with bluestone.


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## RedOnion (10 Apr 2021)

EasilyAmused said:


> Same with bluestone.


I'm probably going to regret this, but what do you need pharmacy grade copper sulphate for?


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## EasilyAmused (10 Apr 2021)

RedOnion said:


> I'm probably going to regret this, but what do you need pharmacy grade copper sulphate for?



Potato blight.
To make Burgundy Mixture (mistakenly referred to Bordeaux Mixture) for preventing potato blight.


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## RedOnion (10 Apr 2021)

EasilyAmused said:


> Potato blight


Ah. I'd never pay pharmacy prices for that purpose, but it depends on the quantity you're buying.


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## RedOnion (10 Apr 2021)

mathepac said:


> PS The pharmaist can choose to close the electronic loop by responding to your email once your prescription is ready for collection


It's impressive that your pharmacy accepts prescription refill requests by email, and I can see how it'd be beneficial if they promoted it rather than having someone tied up on the phone all day.  But I wonder how many of their customers on repeat prescriptions would be comfortable with email?

Looking after prescription collections for my parents (2 different GPs and Pharmacies) has been an eye opener in how many inefficiencies and inconsistencies there are in the whole process.

(and apologies for taking off topic earlier)


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## tomdublin (10 Apr 2021)

EasilyAmused said:


> Aspirin is another thing. In the USA you can get an enormous bottle of aspirin for a few dollars


The price in Ireland of over the counter medicine such as aspirin and paracetamol is scandalous.  It's basically due to a raft of opaque and import & licencing restrictions that are justified on safety grounds but have nothing to do with safety.   Ireland suffers from a massive oversupply of pharmacies that preserve themselves by screwing consumers.


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## mathepac (10 Apr 2021)

@RedOnion That's part of the problem, the inefficiencies and inconsistencies that can arise especially over the phone where the pharmacist is probably working in a busy environment. That and the difficulty getting through on the phone in recent times was part of my justification for the email, plus fewer queues, fewer contacts, fewer exposures to non-compliant COVID idiot behaviours.

I have two prescriptions and some of the medicines are "emergency only" type drugs, thus my consumption is not always predictable and sometimes I won't necessarily need a renewal.  So for me "same again please" won't always work or I'll have drugs going out of date, unused stuff on the medicine shelf, unnecessary expense and so on.

Some doctors are currently sending 6-month or 3-month renewals to pharmacists by email, I know mine does.  I'll be approaching local medics and chemists to try to spread the word so to speak.  Some of the big chemist chains in the UK offer similar services with delivery to customer homes by courier.  Should we risk asking the HSE to set that up?


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## RedOnion (10 Apr 2021)

mathepac said:


> So for me "same again please" won't always work or I'll have drugs going out of date, unused stuff on the medicine shelf


It's the same with my mam. Her GP emails a 6 month prescription to the pharmacy, but she only needs an inhaler for example I'd say every 2nd month, so the call is 'just the  heart tablets this month' type of thing. 

But my dad's is a nightmare. The GP will only issue 1 month prescription at a time. Luckily the pharmacy is almost next door, so they're dropped over every day (no email). But, the GP has to be given 3 days notice of the renewal request, and there have been times he forgets and runs out. Luckily, the pharmacist knows him well enough at this stage that he'll provide an emergency supply for 2 or 3 days, and then take it off the next prescription. But the entire process is so unnecessarily inefficient.

The one positive I've taken from Covid is the GPs emailing the prescription directly to pharmacy. I had to get one prescription for myself, and it was nice to just walk in and collect rather than dropping in prescription and being asked to call back again in an hour.


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## EasilyAmused (10 Apr 2021)

RedOnion said:


> Ah. I'd never pay pharmacy prices for that purpose, but it depends on the quantity you're buying.


A couple of euro per annum usually  covers it... and....ah... a pack of Fishernans Friends... original. And shure... throw in twentyfoursolublesolpadeine as I’m here.  And a pack of Prep H wipes for the weekend.


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