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Drug Dispensing
Passage of Bill 179 Paves Way For PharmaTrust to Bring Tele-Pharmacy to Ontario
TORONTO - With the passage of Bill 179 this week, Ontario has taken a giant step towards becoming one of the most advanced jurisdictions in the world in the adoption of new technology facilitating the remote dispensing of prescription drugs.
The new legislation will permit PCA Services Inc. of Oakville to roll out its PharmaTrustTM Med Centres across the province - something the company has been working towards for four years. Once the regulations are in place, it is expected that Med Centres will be deployed to service patients in medical clinics, hospitals, employer facilities , retail locations, and remote communities that cannot economically support a traditional drug store.
"We congratulate the provincial government for moving this forward, for having the vision to enable a technology that will bring many benefits to the people of Ontario," said Don Waugh, CEO and Co-Founder of PharmaTrust.
PharmaTrust Med Centre kiosks provide live, two-way video conferencing between patients and pharmacists. Patients simply insert their prescription, pick up the handset and interact with the pharmacist who provides care and counseling to the patient. Payment is made and the pharmacist instructs the kiosk to release the mediation to the patient.
The technology has been recognized by industry experts as the leading system in the world. PCA Services, which developed the kiosks, is now in discussions with several major international companies to take the PharmaTrust MedCentre solution to global markets.
The PharmaTrustTM Med Centres will provide First Nations people and residents in remote communities with the same access to pharmacist services as those living in cities. "They will no longer have to travel long distances to obtain needed medications," said Peter Suma, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of the company.
Tele-pharmacy will benefit urban dwellers as well by making 24-hour multi-lingual service available. Patients will be able to have their prescriptions filled when they want, virtually where they want.
Other benefits of the technology are:
* Because pharmacists will be freed up from the physical dispensing process, they will have more time to directly counsel patients
* PharmaTrust alerts patients when their prescriptions are running out, thereby improving drug compliance (it is estimated that 10 per cent of emergency room visits are due to non-compliance)
* the service will be available in more than a dozen different languages (including sign language)
* the PharmaTrust MedCentres and network allow pharmacists to extend their patient care practice beyond the store to increase revenues while lowering their costs
"We now look forward to the speedy passage of appropriate regulations that allow us and our pharmacy partners to bring the full benefits of remote dispensing to Ontarians." said Waugh. "This is a Canadian technology and a breakthrough for the province and patients of Ontario. We are proud to be a part of the future of pharmacy." said Suma.
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