Telepharmacy and pharmaceutical care: A narrative review by International Pharmaceutical Federation

Digital transformation impacts health care through technology. Telephar-macy is set to become one of the most important aspects of Telemedicine in the years to come with its ability to provide patients with increased and more timely access to pharmaceutical care, reduced costs for individuals and health systems, improved patient satisfaction, experience and conve-nience, and better health outcomes. Telepharmacy has gained increasing importance in the delivery of pharmaceutical care, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has placed enormous pressures on healthcare systems globally. There is a significant amount of published literature from different countries around the world that provide examples of Telephar-macy. There are some innovative models of Telepharmacy services aimed at optimizing and improving access to pharmaceutical care, resulting in improved patient safety and outcomes. The benefits of Telepharmacy include increased value for pharmacies and pharmacists and adapting to patients acute accent needs, enhanced interprofessional care and increased effi-ciency of health systems and increased provision of patient-centred ser-vices, among others. However, despite these benefits, major barriers for implementation of Telepharmacy remain such as patient confidentiality and privacy of health information. These barriers to the implementation of Telepharmacy have been identified and can be divided into four different environments: technological, organizational, human and economic. Deli-vering pharmaceutical care and services through digital media is iden-tified as a key priority for the International Pharmaceutical Federation. Digital health is one of the 21 Development Goals launched by Interna-tional Pharmaceutical Federation in 2020. The International Pharmaceu-tical Federation Digital Health in Pharmacy Education report in 2021, describes the readiness, adaptability and responsiveness of pharmacy education and knowledge and skill needs of pharmaceutical workforce on digital health. Amongst other digital health tools, telehealth/Telephar-macy has been reported as one of the most preferred tools to teach and learn about by respondents.