How does dispensing patient-specific medication help in managing patients’ medication?
Patient-specific dispensing of medication is a service in which a pharmacy dispenses the medicines regularly used by the patient in pouches or dispensers and delivers them to the patient’s home. A specific guide has now been made for patient-specific dispensing of medication. It clarifies the tasks and responsibilities of the different professional groups and the actors that implement the patient’s medication. In the video interview, Ulla Närhi from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health explains, for example, how patient-specific dispensing and the guide help to manage the patient’s medication.
Link to the video interview:
https://youtu.be/onbhtgL1HJ0
The interview as a text version
What is patient-specific dispensing of medication?
“Patient-specific dispensing of medication is a service in which a pharmacy or a hospital dispenses medicines either as doses in pouches or in a dispenser and delivers them to the patient for periods of about two weeks. It is usually medication that the patient uses regularly. The dispensing service always includes a review of the medication, in other words, the patient’s entire medication is checked at least once a year. These aspects are both very important: the patient receives the medication at home as doses and the medication used is reviewed regularly.”
How does patient-specific distribution of medication help with managing the patient’s medication? And how will the guide help?
“The patient benefits from patient-specific distribution by receiving the medicine at home dispensed as doses in pouches or in some other kind of dispenser. A time is written on the pouch. It will remind the patient and the patient will remember to take the medication at the right time. The way we benefit from the guide is that we get a framework for this operation at a national level. The guide explains the duties and responsibilities of doctors, nurses and pharmacy staff in patient-specific dispensing. This is how we can ensure that it is carried out in approximately the same way in all localities.”
Where is this guide available?
“The guide is available on the website of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health from today.”
Interview and video: Kimmo Vainikainen