InpharmD: A Novel Approach to Faciltate the Practice of Evidence-Based Medicine
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Abstract
The first scientific journal was launched in France in 1600’s, disseminated physically by the publishers. This practice continued relatively unchanged up until the 1960’s, when the National Library of Medicine (NLM) developed the Medical Literature Retrieval and Analysis System, or MEDLARS (or what we know today as Medline), which allowed for healthcare providers to request specific literature. Requests for literature were submitted by mail and results returned by mail. Though the system has advanced over the last 50 years, literature searching can still be tedious and time consuming, hindering the practice of evidence-based medicine.
Patients have the same problem. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), nearly 9 out of 10 adults have difficulty using routinely available health information, resulting in poorer health outcomes and higher health care costs. As such, a key HHS initiative is Health Communication, Health Literacy, and e-Health, and according to the website (http://health.gov/communication/), “Improving health communication and utilizing health technologies are essential to promoting individual and population health.”
A few Drug Information Centers (DIC) exist to facilitate this process, by selecting, evaluating, and disseminating unbiased, evidence-based responses to questions tailored and on demand. A DIC has shown the potential to increase quality and decrease costs. A DIC was associated with 45 fewer deaths per hospital versus hospitals without this service, and a one year assessment of cost avoidance associated with a DIC resulted in an estimated $132,200 in savings.
Presently, DICs generally use antiquated communication methods that slow the process down. To date, none exist to exchange information at the point of care, making use of the estimated 91% of U.S. healthcare providers that use a smartphone, or offer a web-service to target the nearly 170 million Americans that use the Internet to research for health information.
InpharmD represents the first ever drug information app/website offering drug information, tailored, on demand, and digitalized (at your fingertips). Healthcare provider and patient users can enter any health-related request and receive a customized, evidence-based response within the time period requested. Currently, such a service is not commercially available: existing Drug Information websites and apps do not offer customized drug information, and existing Drug Information Centers that provide customized Drug Information do not presently offer a website and app as a means of communication. Pilot testing is in progress.
Patients have the same problem. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), nearly 9 out of 10 adults have difficulty using routinely available health information, resulting in poorer health outcomes and higher health care costs. As such, a key HHS initiative is Health Communication, Health Literacy, and e-Health, and according to the website (http://health.gov/communication/), “Improving health communication and utilizing health technologies are essential to promoting individual and population health.”
A few Drug Information Centers (DIC) exist to facilitate this process, by selecting, evaluating, and disseminating unbiased, evidence-based responses to questions tailored and on demand. A DIC has shown the potential to increase quality and decrease costs. A DIC was associated with 45 fewer deaths per hospital versus hospitals without this service, and a one year assessment of cost avoidance associated with a DIC resulted in an estimated $132,200 in savings.
Presently, DICs generally use antiquated communication methods that slow the process down. To date, none exist to exchange information at the point of care, making use of the estimated 91% of U.S. healthcare providers that use a smartphone, or offer a web-service to target the nearly 170 million Americans that use the Internet to research for health information.
InpharmD represents the first ever drug information app/website offering drug information, tailored, on demand, and digitalized (at your fingertips). Healthcare provider and patient users can enter any health-related request and receive a customized, evidence-based response within the time period requested. Currently, such a service is not commercially available: existing Drug Information websites and apps do not offer customized drug information, and existing Drug Information Centers that provide customized Drug Information do not presently offer a website and app as a means of communication. Pilot testing is in progress.
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