Prescription for Digital Evolution: Transformative Recommendations for Pharmacy Practice in the Digital Age

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Pharmacy Practice

Background:

• Digital health is rapidly advancing due to increased administrative tasks and evolving care expectations.
• Health policy recognizes the need to evaluate technological requirements for clinicians, including pharmacists, to practice at their full scope.
• There is an emergent need for recommendations to guide the technological transformation enabling community pharmacists' practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop digital health recommendations through expert consensus.
• Recommendations are targeted at government, pharmacy professional associations, pharmacy enterprises, and software vendors.
• The goal is to facilitate community pharmacists' practice in the digital health era.

Main Methods:

• A modified Delphi survey was conducted online in February-March 2024.
• Purposively recruited pharmacists with digital health expertise rated 24 research-derived statements.
• Consensus was defined as ≥80% agreement and a standard deviation ≤1.00, with iterative refinement through free-text comments.

Main Results:

• All 22 participants completed the 3-round survey, representing all Australian jurisdictions.
• Eighteen participants possessed over 10 years of professional experience.
• Sixteen recommendations were developed: 6 for government, 2 for professional associations, 4 for enterprises, and 4 for software vendors.

Conclusions:

• The majority of recommendations necessitate financial investment and legislative harmonization across jurisdictions.
• Adoption requires significant investment from healthcare system partners and technology providers.
• Implementing these recommendations will enable pharmacists to practice more effectively and safely using technology solutions.