ForPharmacy – Future pharmacy as a plug-and-play ecosystem

Project Name: ForPharmacy – Future Pharmacy as a Plug-and-Play Ecosystem

Project Number: POCI-01-0247-FEDER-070053

Project Lifetime: 27 months

Period: 01-01-2021 - 31-03-2023

Partners:

               Glint – Healthcare Solutions, S.A.

               Polytechnic of Leiria

               School of Health - Polytechnic Institute of Porto

               Engineering School of the Polytechnic of Porto

               University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland

Type of Project: Programme for Research Collaboration Between Companies and National and European Polytechnic Institutions 

Project Summary: 

Pharmacies are important structures of health systems and can offer outreach services due to their wide diffusion. Being qualified health professionals, pharmacists, in addition to dispensing medicines, can advise patients on drug-taking regimes and can also offer pharmacovigilance services.  The close contact between pharmacies and the population is a great opportunity for public health, as they currently occupy a crucial role as the first point of care. This can be a great advantage, given the current health problems related to the pandemic of COVID-19 and future outbreaks, the prevalence of elderly population and chronic diseases, and rising healthcare costs at an unsustainable rate. All these issues require greater responsiveness of health systems that can be effectively supported by community pharmacies.  The application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the health sector opens up new perspectives in the delivery of health services and contributes to limiting the problem of the declining availability of health professionals. One of the opportunities that can be further exploited is tele-pharmacy services. Telepharmacy is defined as "the provision of pharmaceutical assistance by registered pharmacists and pharmacies through the use of telecommunications to patients located at a distance". It is an example of the broader phenomenon of telemedicine, implemented in the field of pharmacy. Telepharmacy services include monitoring drug interactions, patient counselling and follow-up, prior authorisation, and authorisation for dispensing prescription drugs and remote dispensing of medicines.  Within this framework, the ForPharmacy project aims to develop innovative telepharmacy solutions, with special attention to those directly related to health, pharmacovigilance, therapeutic adherence, drug interactions, and assistance services that will be radically different from the conventional pharmacy services already available. This will allow the identification of new areas in which tele-pharmacy could increase the availability of health services.

The main objective of the project is to expand access to pharmacy care and simultaneously improve patient safety through better counselling, monitoring of drug administration and possible adverse reactions. This expansion will be done through the digitalisation of community pharmacy services, in direct articulation with the different health professionals.

Coordination of the project in E2S/Researchers involved: 

Professora Doutora Artemisa Agostinha Monteiro da Rocha Dores

Professor Doutor António José Pereira da Silva Marques