UNASSIGNED: Telepharmacy was effectively applied for remote pharmaceutical care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNASSIGNED: To determine the implementation of telepharmacy services to support pharmacists in providing pharmaceutical care during the pandemic.
UNASSIGNED: Seven electronic databases were searched from inception to June 2021: PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica database (Embase), Web of Science, Proquest, Scopus, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
UNASSIGNED: The review followed PRISMA guidelines and was registered with the PROSPERO registry of systematic reviews. Reports of original research investigating the implementation of telepharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic were retrieved. Researchers screened the title and abstract of each article, and then evaluated the full text of eligible articles to identify studies that met the inclusion criteria. Pharmacists\' responsibilities and actions were classified in relation to the International Pharmaceutical Federation guideline for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Extracted data included study characteristics, pharmacists\' interventions delivered through a telepharmacy system, and the benefits of telepharmacy implementation.
UNASSIGNED: The database search yielded 1400 articles. After removal of duplicates and articles not meeting the specific inclusion criteria (n = 1381), a total of 19 relevant original research articles were reviewed. According to these studies, telepharmacy was used to perform remote medication review and optimization, assess medication adherence, dispense and deliver medications, educate and counsel patients, promote disease prevention, collaborate with health care providers, and monitor treatment outcomes.
UNASSIGNED: This study highlighted the use of telepharmacy services to support pharmacists\' activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Randomized clinical trials are needed to investigate the long-term efficacy and cost-effectiveness of telepharmacy services.
UNASSIGNED: La télépharmacie a été efficacement utilisée pour les soins pharmaceutiques à distance pendant la pandémie de COVID-19.
UNASSIGNED: Déterminer comment des services de télépharmacie ont été mis en place pour soutenir les pharmaciens dans la prestation de leurs soins.
UNASSIGNED: Sept bases de données électroniques ont été utilisées pour effectuer les recherches, pour la période allant du début jusqu’à juin 2021: PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica (Embase), Web of Science, Proquest, Scopus et la Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
UNASSIGNED: L’examen suivait les lignes directrices PRISMA et a été enregistré dans le registre PROSPERO des revues systématiques. Des articles rapportant des recherches originales sur la mise en œuvre de la télépharmacie pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 ont été extraits. Les chercheurs ont examiné le titre et le résumé de chaque article avant d’évaluer le texte intégral des articles admissibles pour identifier les études répondant aux critères d’inclusion. Les responsabilités et les actes des pharmaciens ont été classés selon les lignes directrices de la Fédération internationale pharmaceutique relativement à la gestion de la pandémie de COVID-19. Les données extraites comprenaient les caractéristiques de l’étude, les interventions des pharmaciens effectuées au moyen du système de télépharmacie ainsi que les avantages de la mise en œuvre de la télépharmacie.
UNASSIGNED: La recherche dans la base de données a rendu 1400 articles. Après suppression des doublons et des articles ne répondant pas strictement aux critères d’inclusion (n = 1381), 19 articles de recherche originaux pertinents ont été examinés. Selon ces études, la télépharmacie était utilisée pour effectuer l’examen à distance de médicaments et leur optimisation, évaluer l’observance de la médication, dispenser et administrer des médicaments, informer et conseiller les patients, promouvoir la prévention des maladies, collaborer avec les prestataires de soins de santé et surveiller les résultats du traitement.
UNASSIGNED: Cette étude a mis en évidence l’utilisation des services de télépharmacie pour soutenir les activités des pharmaciens pendant la pandémie de COVID-19. Des essais cliniques randomisés sont nécessaires pour étudier l’efficacité à long terme et la rentabilité des services de télépharmacie.

This review wants to highlight the importance of computer programs used to control the steps in the management of dangerous drugs. It must be taken into account that there are phases in the process of handling dangerous medicines in pharmacy services that pose a risk to the healthcare personnel who handle them. Objective: To review the scientific literature to determine what computer programs have been used in the field of hospital pharmacy for the management of dangerous drugs (HDs).
The following electronic databases were searched from inception to July 30, 2021: MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS) and Medicine in Spanish (MEDES). The following terms were used in the search strategy: \"Antineoplastic Agents,\" \"Cytostatic Agents,\" \"Hazardous Substances,\" \"Medical Informatics Applications,\" \"Mobile Applications,\" \"Software,\" \"Software Design,\" and \"Pharmacy Service, Hospital.\"
A total of 104 studies were retrieved form the databases, and 18 additional studies were obtained by manually searching the reference lists of the included studies and by consulting experts. Once the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, 26 studies were ultimately included in this review. Most of the applications described in the included studies were used for the management of antineoplastic drugs. The most commonly controlled stage was electronic prescription; 18 studies and 7 interventions carried out in the preparation stage focused on evaluating the accuracy of chemotherapy preparations.
Antineoplastic electronic prescription software was the most widely implemented software at the hospital level. No software was found to control the entire HD process. Only one of the selected studies measured safety events in workers who handle HDs. Moreover, health personnel were found to be satisfied with the implementation of this type of technology for daily work with these medications. All studies reviewed herein considered patient safety as their final objective. However, none of the studies evaluated the risk of HD exposure among workers.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this scoping review was to identify and characterise pharmacy students\' contributions to extend pharmacist\'s direct patient care during inpatient hospital experiential rotations.
METHODS: A search of PubMed, Embase and CINAHL databases from 2000 to July 2021 was conducted. Articles were included if they involved pharmacy students during experiential rotations, described student\'s contribution to direct patient care in the inpatient hospital setting, and reported outcomes. Included articles were categorised according to clinical pharmacy key performance indicators (cpKPIs) and non-cpKPI care activities. Students\' contributions to reported outcomes were extracted and summarised.
RESULTS: Thirty-six of 1182 identified articles were included which were either descriptive or quasi-experimental design. Studies reported student involvement in the delivery of single or multiple cpKPIs: medication reconciliation on admission (n = 13), pharmaceutical care (n = 13), interprofessional care rounds (n = 4), patient education during hospital stay (n = 6), medication reconciliation at discharge (n = 7) and patient education at discharge (n = 10). Eight studies reported student involvement in non-cpKPI activities, including clinical interventions (n = 5), clinical services (n = 2) and postdischarge follow-up (n = 1). Reported outcomes included service measure counts, process and clinical outcome measures.
CONCLUSIONS: This review identified the contributions of pharmacy students in the provision of a range of direct patient care services and associated outcomes during experiential rotations in the inpatient hospital setting. Students delivering care as part of the pharmacy team as \'care extenders\' has the potential to expose more patients to key pharmacist activities that have been linked to demonstrated positive outcomes.

Background and Objectives: With the increased prevalence of patients with cancer, the demand for preparing cytotoxic drugs was increased by health-system pharmacists. To reduce the workload and contamination of work areas in pharmacies, compounding robots preparing cytotoxic drugs have been introduced, and the use of the robots has been expanded in recent years. As reports on the comprehensive and quantitative evaluation of compounding robots remain lacking, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to provide descriptive and quantitative evaluations of the accuracy of preparing injectable cytotoxic drugs. Materials and Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted using published studies up to 2020. To identify eligible studies, PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were used. All studies reporting the outcomes relevant to drug-compounding robots such as accuracy, safety, and drug contamination were included. Outcomes from included studies were descriptively summarized. Drug contamination by the robot was quantitatively analyzed using the odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias Assessment tool for Non-randomized Studies (RoBANS). Results: A total of 14 compounding robot studies were eligible for review and 4 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Robotic compounding showed failure rates of 0.9-16.75%, while the accuracy range was set at 5%. Two studies reported that robotic compounding needed more time than manual compounding, two reported that robotic compounding needed less time, and one just reported preparation time without a control group. In a meta-analysis regarding the contamination of the compounding area, manual compounding was associated with lower contamination, although the result was not statistically significant (OR 4.251, 95% CI 0.439-51.772). For the contamination of infusion bags, the robot was associated with lower contamination (OR 0.176, 95% CI 0.084-0.365). Conclusions: Robotic compounding showed better accuracy than manual compounding and, without control groups, showed a high accuracy rate and also reduced the risk of drug contamination and compounding workload. The preparation time of the robot was not consistent because the type of robot and introduced system were different. In conclusion, robotic compounding showed mixed results compared to the manual compounding of drugs, so the system should be introduced considering the risks and benefits of robots.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out an assessment of parenteral nutrition (PN) practices in hospital pharmacies of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in order to explore a harmonisation of practices and a collaboration between the different centres.
METHODS: Status of practices was carried out on the basis of an observational study inspired by the survey of the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs. It was carried out in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in four university hospital pharmacies with a production unit of PN. It focused on the different stages of the PN process: prescription, formulation, compounding and quality control. It also covered the support processes such as the quality assurance system and the management of premises and equipment.
RESULTS: Most preparations made in the region are individualized parenteral nutritional admixtures for paediatric and neonatal hospitalization departments. The production units of PN of each centre are located in premises in compliance with Good Preparation Practices. However, compounding equipment and raw materials used are heterogeneous in the four centres. All centres control the quality of their finished preparations. But, the performance of analytical control is disparate in terms of equipment and specifications.
CONCLUSIONS: This assessment explains the similarities and differences in PN practices between various university hospitals in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and thus makes possible to provide a collective regional work to harmonise practices.

The current systematic review (SR) was undertaken to summarise the published literature reporting the clinical and economic value of automation for chemotherapy preparation management to include compounding workflow software and robotic compounding systems.
Literature searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Library on 16 November 2017 to identify publications investigating chemotherapy compounding workflow software solutions used in a hospital pharmacy for the preparation of chemotherapy.
5175 publications were screened by title and abstract and 18 of 72 full publications screened were included. Grey literature searching identified an additional seven publications. The SR identified 25 publications relating to commercial technologies for compounding (Robotic compounding systems: APOTECAchemo (n=12), CytoCare (n=5) and RIVA (n=1); Workflow software: Cato (n=6) and Diana (n=1)). The studies demonstrate that compounding technologies improved accuracy in dose preparations and reduced dose errors compared with manual compounding. Comparable levels of contamination were reported for technologies compared with manual compounding. The compounding technologies were associated with reductions in annual costs compared with manual compounding, but the impact on compounding times was not consistent and was dependent on the type of compounding technology.
The published evidence suggests that the implementation of chemotherapy compounding automation solutions may reduce compounding errors and reduce costs; however, this is highly variable depending on the form of automation. In addition, the available evidence is heterogeneous, sparse and inconsistently reported. A key finding from the current SR is a \'call to action\' to encourage pharmacists to publish data following implementation of chemotherapy compounding technologies in their hospital, which would allow for evidence-based recommendations on the benefits of chemotherapy compounding technologies.

Patient medicines helpline services (PMHS) are available from some National Health Service Trusts in the UK to support patients following their discharge from hospital. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the available evidence regarding the characteristics of enquirers and enquiries to PMHS, in order to develop recommendations for service improvement.
Searches were conducted using Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Scopus, and Web of Science, on 4 June 2019. Forward and backward citation searches were conducted, and grey literature was searched. Studies were included if they reported any characteristics of enquirers who use PMHS, and/or enquiries received. Study quality was assessed using the Axis tool. A narrative synthesis was conducted, and where appropriate, weighted means (WMs) were calculated. Where possible, outcomes were compared with Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data for England, to establish whether the profile of helpline users may differ to that of hospital patients.
Nineteen studies were included (~4362 enquiries). Risk of bias from assessed studies was 71%. Enquirers were predominantly female (WM=53%; HES mean=57%), elderly (WM=69 years; HES mean=53 years) and enquired regarding themselves (WM=72%). Out of inpatient and outpatient enquirers, 50% were inpatients and 50% were outpatients (WM). Six of 15 studies reported adverse effects as the main enquiry reason. Two of four studies reported antimicrobial drugs as the main enquiry drug class. From two studies, the main clinical origin of enquiries were general surgery and cardiology. Across six studies, 27% (WM) of enquiries concerned medicines-related errors.
Our findings show that PMHS are often used by elderly patients, which is important since this group may be particularly vulnerable to experiencing medicines-related issues following hospital discharge. Over a quarter of enquiries to PMHS may concern medicines-related errors, suggesting that addressing such errors is an important function of this service. However, our study findings may be limited by a high risk of bias within included studies. Further research could provide a more detailed profile of helpline users (eg, ethnicity, average number of medicines consumed), and we encourage helpline providers to use their enquiry data to conduct local projects to improve hospital services (eg, reducing errors).
CRD42018116276.

The pharmacy profession has undergone tremendous changes over the past few decades. Pharmacists\' roles have expanded their boundaries to encompass more patient-centered services. However, the degree to which these roles are practised may vary. This scoping review is aimed at describing the extent and range of the professional pharmacy services offered in hospital pharmacies across different countries and the barriers underlying inappropriate or incomplete implementation of these services. Studies published in the English language between 2015 and 2019 were retrieved from the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, EBSCO Discovery Service, and Web of Science. A thematic analysis across the included studies produced two main themes. \"Scope of practice\" comprised three subthemes: pharmaceutical care practice, clinical pharmacy practice, and public health services and \"Multiple levels of influence\" comprised five subthemes: individual, interpersonal, institutional, community, and public policy-related factors. The hospital pharmacy services across countries ranged from traditional drug-centered pharmacy practice to a more progressive, clinically oriented practice. In some countries, there is an apparent inadequacy in the clinical pharmacy services provided compared to other clinical settings. Understanding the current pharmacy practice culture across different health care systems is an essential step towards improving the profession.

OBJECTIVE: Hospital-based patient medicines helpline services (PMHS) and medicines information services for the general public (MISGP) are available in many countries to support people with their medicines. Our aim was to examine the available evidence regarding the effectiveness of PMHS and MISGP.
METHODS: Searches were conducted using Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus and Web of Science, on 11 August 2018. Forward and backward citation searches were conducted, grey literature was searched, and study quality/risk of bias was assessed. Findings were synthesised in a narrative synthesis. Where appropriate, weighted means were calculated.
RESULTS: Thirty-two studies were identified for inclusion (17 published articles, 15 conference abstracts). Eighteen studies were conducted within the United Kingdom. Mean quality assessment was moderate (51%), and risk of bias was high (63%). PMHS and MISGP are both typically perceived as positive (e.g. 94% and 91% of participants were satisfied with using a PMHS and MISGP, respectively). For PMHS, the advice received is reported to be usually followed (94%, and 66% for MISGP). For both services, users report several positive outcomes (e.g. problems resolved/avoided, feeling reassured and improved health). PMHS may also be effective for correcting medicines-related errors (up to 39% of calls may concern such errors) and for potentially avoiding medicines-related harm (48% of enquiries concerned situations that were judged to have the potential to harm patients).
CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that both PMHS and MISGP may be beneficial sources of medicines-related support. However, the moderate quality and high risk of bias of studies highlight that more high-quality research is needed.

BACKGROUND: With the update of the directive 2005/36/EU on the recognition of professional qualifications (2013/55/EU), the European Union (EU) legislation opened also to pharmacists the possibility to define specialisations via a common training framework (CTF).
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to review, synthesise and present published evidence on the impact of health educational interventions targeting healthcare professionals on patients\' health outcomes that support a hospital pharmacy CTF in EU.
METHODS: The search was carried out in Medline and Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature and was limited to English language full review articles or primary research published since 2000. Data were extracted independently and compared by three of the researchers.
RESULTS: Ten papers (9 primary research studies and one literature review) were identified. Almost one-third of the studies (30%, n=3) targeted pharmacists in their research. The majority of studies (80%, n=8) have shown that higher education levels among healthcare professionals improved patient outcomes. No study discussed the importance of a CTF.
CONCLUSIONS: The review of the literature has demonstrated the need for education and training of health personnel to improve patient outcome. Controlled studies about pharmacist education and training in European countries showed that the benefit of a CTF is lacking.