Customer Story | Community pharmacy system gives pharmacists access to vital information

Rohpharm community pharmacy in London has partnered with 2 local GP practices to share patient information electronically, directly from the GP medical record.

By enabling this sharing, vital patient information – including allergies and recent test results – can now be viewed by the pharmacists. Not only has this partnership improved communication between the pharmacy team and the GP practices, it’s improved the care patients receive – including helping to prevent unscheduled hospital admissions.

Jignesh Patel, a pharmacist at Rohpharm said: “The software is brilliant for ordering and tracking repeat prescriptions seamlessly and electronically, with a full audit process."

Better communication between GP and pharmacist enables a holistic view of the patient’s treatment and can save time and money – essential in today’s pressured healthcare environment.”

Jignesh Patel
Pharmacist

“We can see the full list of the patient’s repeat medication that is held on the GP system, which makes it easier for us to respond to patient requests. We can also communicate directly with the GP – for example, to query a prescription.  The GP can also contact us – for example, asking us to only fill part of a script because the patient is overdue a review.

The electronic sharing of information has been made possible by using GP Medical Record Viewer (GPRV) and Pharmacy Access – provided by Optum (formerly EMIS) - that enables patient information from the practices’ EMIS Web® software to be viewed by the pharmacists in their clinical software – ProScript Connect®.

Improving long-term condition patient care

The partnership between Rohpharm Community Pharmacy and the GP practices has vastly improved the care patients receive – especially for patients with long-term conditions. With repeat dispensing under electronic prescribing, the GPs can give patients six months’ supply of medication at a time. Pharmacists at Rohpharm Community Pharmacy can then let the GPs know if the patient is collecting their medication. 

Helping to reduce unscheduled hospital admissions

The partnership is also helping to reduce unscheduled hospital admissions for asthma patients. Pharmacists at Rohpharm Community Pharmacy can gauge whether preventative treatment needs to be increased for the patient’s asthma by the number of inhalers a patient is requesting. They can then alert the patients GP if they think their medication needs to be altered. 