A survey on feasibility of telehealth services among young Italian pharmacists
Background: Telemedicine is defined as “the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s health status”. This relatively new concept of healthcare is based on the fusion between medical assistance and Information and Communication...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Centro de Investigaciones y Publicaciones Farmaceuticas
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Pharmacy Practice |
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| Online Access: | https://www.pharmacypractice.org/journal/index.php/pp/article/view/1926 |
| _version_ | 1811264985755549696 |
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| author | Simone Baldoni Graziano Pallotta Enea Traini Getu G. Sagaro Giulio Nittari Francesco Amenta |
| author_facet | Simone Baldoni Graziano Pallotta Enea Traini Getu G. Sagaro Giulio Nittari Francesco Amenta |
| author_sort | Simone Baldoni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Telemedicine is defined as “the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s health status”. This relatively new concept of healthcare is based on the fusion between medical assistance and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to provide support to people located in remote and underserved areas. It can be found not only in hospitals, but also in other healthcare facilities such as pharmacies. Starting from 2010, telemedicine or telehealth was formally introduced in the Italian pharmaceutical context with the "Pharmacy of Services Decree". In spite of this regulatory framework, the implementation of this technology was very slow and there are no data about the spreading and use of these services in Italian pharmacies.
Objective: The present study has therefore developed a survey to collect information on the diffusion of telemedicine/telehealth services within Italian pharmacies.
Methods: A two-part questionnaire in Italian was developed using SurveyMonkey, setting a mechanism aimed to have different outcomes according to the answers given. Six hundred eighty-three respondents returned the questionnaire. The results were then analysed statistically.
Results: The questionnaire results have shown a limited diffusion of telemedicine/telehealth services among Italian pharmacies and an apparently limited interest of health authorities in supporting the integration of this technology.
Conclusions: More efforts should be spent by national public health stakeholders to better analyse the contribution of telemedicine services available in public pharmacies and to find the best solutions to implement this innovative technology as an established service. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:14:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0bb641565940497483cf2fc1c1f0945e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1885-642X 1886-3655 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:14:26Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Centro de Investigaciones y Publicaciones Farmaceuticas |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pharmacy Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-0bb641565940497483cf2fc1c1f0945e2022-12-22T03:18:09ZengCentro de Investigaciones y Publicaciones FarmaceuticasPharmacy Practice1885-642X1886-36552020-09-01183192610.18549/PharmPract.2020.3.1926A survey on feasibility of telehealth services among young Italian pharmacistsSimone Baldoni https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1485-4755Graziano Pallottahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5511-713XEnea Trainihttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5275-4099Getu G. Sagaro https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5983-0266Giulio Nittari https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7918-8442Francesco Amenta https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0555-1034Background: Telemedicine is defined as “the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s health status”. This relatively new concept of healthcare is based on the fusion between medical assistance and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to provide support to people located in remote and underserved areas. It can be found not only in hospitals, but also in other healthcare facilities such as pharmacies. Starting from 2010, telemedicine or telehealth was formally introduced in the Italian pharmaceutical context with the "Pharmacy of Services Decree". In spite of this regulatory framework, the implementation of this technology was very slow and there are no data about the spreading and use of these services in Italian pharmacies. Objective: The present study has therefore developed a survey to collect information on the diffusion of telemedicine/telehealth services within Italian pharmacies. Methods: A two-part questionnaire in Italian was developed using SurveyMonkey, setting a mechanism aimed to have different outcomes according to the answers given. Six hundred eighty-three respondents returned the questionnaire. The results were then analysed statistically. Results: The questionnaire results have shown a limited diffusion of telemedicine/telehealth services among Italian pharmacies and an apparently limited interest of health authorities in supporting the integration of this technology. Conclusions: More efforts should be spent by national public health stakeholders to better analyse the contribution of telemedicine services available in public pharmacies and to find the best solutions to implement this innovative technology as an established service.https://www.pharmacypractice.org/journal/index.php/pp/article/view/1926telemedicinedelivery of health caremedically underserved areapublic healthprimary health carepharmaciespharmaceutical servicespharmacistssurveys and questionnairesitaly |
| spellingShingle | Simone Baldoni Graziano Pallotta Enea Traini Getu G. Sagaro Giulio Nittari Francesco Amenta A survey on feasibility of telehealth services among young Italian pharmacists Pharmacy Practice telemedicine delivery of health care medically underserved area public health primary health care pharmacies pharmaceutical services pharmacists surveys and questionnaires italy |
| title | A survey on feasibility of telehealth services among young Italian pharmacists |
| title_full | A survey on feasibility of telehealth services among young Italian pharmacists |
| title_fullStr | A survey on feasibility of telehealth services among young Italian pharmacists |
| title_full_unstemmed | A survey on feasibility of telehealth services among young Italian pharmacists |
| title_short | A survey on feasibility of telehealth services among young Italian pharmacists |
| title_sort | survey on feasibility of telehealth services among young italian pharmacists |
| topic | telemedicine delivery of health care medically underserved area public health primary health care pharmacies pharmaceutical services pharmacists surveys and questionnaires italy |
| url | https://www.pharmacypractice.org/journal/index.php/pp/article/view/1926 |
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