EHEALTH & INNOVATION IN PHARMACY PRACTICE LEZLEY-ANNE HANNA & MAURICE HALL, OTC CONSULT
supported by
Keith McLernon, MD McLernon Computers, Lezley- Anne Hanna and Maurice Hall, OTC Consult
In 2014, there were almost four million visits to accident and Emergency departments for self- treatable conditions, at a cost of £290 million to the nhS. furthermore, around 57 million annual general practitioner (gP) appointments are for self- treatable conditions, costing the nhS £2 billion. as nhS resources are currently stretched to their limits, it is important that healthcare professionals provide evidence-based advice about minor ailments to facilitate and encourage people to self-treat these safely, effectively and appropriately. Indeed, the range of medicines (otc medicines) for self- treatable conditions continues to expand with four prescription-only deregulations announced by the Mhra in 2017.
In 2016, lezley-anne and Maurice secured £3500 from the cW Young Bursary (
http://forum.psni.
org.uk/awards-and-bursaries/cw-young-bursary/) to develop and launch a mobile phone app for pharmacists, pharmacy staff and students to support over-the-counter (otc) consultations.
lezley-anne and Maurice worked in partnership with a local digital media company to publish their app (‘otc consult’). as they had no prior experience of app development, the graphic designer trained them on the content management system and prepared one condition for proof of concept.
over a four-month period, they developed the remaining content and graphics, releasing it on android and apple platforms in february 2017.
following use of gold standard resources and peer review for the content, the app was piloted. the pilot (use testing) involved pharmacists and postgraduate pharmacy students with a mix of smartphone devices, ie, apple and android users. feedback centred on including photographs to aid with diagnosis of certain conditions and therefore stock images were purchased and a gallery created. More information on recently deregulated prescription-only medicines was sought, so lezley- anne and Maurice prepared a separate section relating to these medicines.
Some suggested other health promotion advice so a section was added on the Uk vaccination schedule and adult screening programmes. Moreover, the original app name ‘otconsult’ (ie, using one ‘c’ for otc and consult) was not user- friendly. this was later changed to ‘otc consult’ to enable more effective searching. once it was published on google Play and apple stores (february 2017), lezley-anne and Maurice approached Uk pharmacy publications, had facebook coverage, attended a digital literacies conference, and exhibited the app at the Pharmacy forum ‘Inspiring change’ event.
otc consult lists over 70 self-treatable conditions that are managed in community pharmacy practice. the information about each is summarised under four main headings, namely, clinical features, referral criteria (red flags), time frame to resolution and management strategy (which is best practice
advice about non-pharmacological and/or pharmacological measures). a photo gallery is included to aid with visual diagnosis of relevant conditions. other sections of the app include pertinent prescription-only deregulations, the Uk Vaccination Schedule and Uk adult screening programmes, and consultation skills (including commonly-used mnemonics and an evidence-based communication model).
the app provides quick access to evidence-based information for decision making in practice or when learning about managing common conditions. It increases confidence that recommendations are aligned with current guidance. furthermore, it enables the public to receive best practice management strategies, leading to increased satisfaction and positive healthcare outcomes (whilst reducing the amount of time and money wasted on inappropriate options). It has the potential to improve standardisation of care.
lezley-anne and Maurice critically appraised and collated information from reputable sources such as the Bnf, nIcE, cochrane library, national health Service (nhS) choices, the faculty of Sexual and reproductive healthcare (fSrh), the Medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency (Mhra) and travel health Pro. therefore, the content is of high quality and users do not have to review multiple resources, thus improving efficiency at the point of care.
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