Medical prescriptions are just as necessary to your patients as the medications themselves. Unfortunately, many people still need to figure out how to access them without visiting hospitals. In this post, you’ll understand how you can help younger patients reach their medical prescriptions without going through that hassle and save yourself some time and money in the process.
Offer a pharmacy delivery service
You can offer pharmacy delivery services to get prescriptions to patients who can’t travel to a pharmacy. They are available in most countries, especially Canada. Before offering a pharmacy delivery service, ensure your medical staff understands the requirements for the safe delivery of medications by mail. In Canada, these include keeping all drugs in tamper-proof packaging until they reach their destination at an approved address, which may differ from their mailing address.
Carry out routine health screening
You can carry out routine health screenings within your practice to help your younger patients access medical prescriptions without visiting hospitals. These screenings are also good for older patients or those with a family history of certain conditions. You should consider assessing the patient’s risk factors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, if they are overweight or obese, and if they have a family history of certain conditions like diabetes or heart disease. The more you can do to educate your patients and help them stay healthy, the better. These screenings can help you catch any health problems early on and prevent them from worsening.
Provide copies of medical records
You can also provide the patient a medical record copy, so they can access their information without visiting your hospital. If you’re using a new system, ensure that patient’s parents understand its use. Many patients need to become more familiar with digital records and can get frustrated when accessing them. They need to know how their medical records work, so they feel safe when trying to obtain this information from home.
Make sure your digital files are secure from hackers by keeping them on a private network with firewalls protecting them from outside attacks. Suppose someone is able to store any data in an unsecured location. In that case, it becomes vulnerable to theft or manipulation by others who may want access to the system for nefarious purposes.
Implement remote patient monitoring (RPM)
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) helps monitor a patient’s vital signs outside the hospital. RPM can help improve patient care, reduce unnecessary admissions and readmissions, decrease costs, and improve outcomes.
Doctor’s orders can be provided remotely through email or text message and followed up by phone call or in-person visit if necessary. This could include prescription refills that require lab work before dispensing medication to patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure.
RPM can also monitor patients with acute conditions, such as asthma and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The system can be used for post-operative monitoring patients who have undergone surgery or a procedure requiring anesthesia. This is especially important for kids, who may not be able to communicate their needs and often require immediate attention when they are discharged from the hospital.
Recommend child-friendly virtual care apps
Virtual care applications are becoming more common, and kids can take advantage of them at home or school. Virtual care applications also immediately let parents know their child’s condition since pediatric experts are available to talk to 24/7. This way, parents don’t have to wait for their children to get sick before they can treat them. These apps will keep parents updated on their kid’s condition daily so that if something happens, it won’t catch them off guard.
These virtual care applications are the future, as they are designed to substitute for regular in-person visits. So if you want to ensure a kid’s health is in good condition, the best thing to do is recommend their parents install virtual care services for pediatrics 24/7. With the help of these apps, parents can monitor their children’s health while away from home. They can also get medical advice from pediatric experts 24/7.
The Bottom Line
Helping patients access medical prescriptions without visiting hospitals is one of the most important things you can do as a medical professional. Fortunately, there are many ways to make this easier for everyone involved. From offering online consultations and remote diagnosis techniques to providing access to prescriptions once tests have been performed, you can ensure that everyone gets what they need when it comes time for treatment. This is a big step forward for the medical field, and it can potentially change millions of people’s lives.
