Application, Benefits, and Limitations of Telepharmacy for Patients with Diabetes in the Outpatient Setting

Abstract

Ghina Nadhifah Iftinan,1 Khaled M Elamin,2 Susi Afrianti Rahayu,3 Keri Lestari,4,5 Nasrul Wathoni5,6 1Pharmacist Professional Education Study Program, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, 45363, Indonesia; 2Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 862-0973, Japan; 3Department of Pharmacy, Akademi Farmasi Bumi Siliwangi, Bandung, 40286, Indonesia; 4Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, 45363, Indonesia; 5Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic (MTAC), Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, 45363, Indonesia; 6Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, 45363, IndonesiaCorrespondence: Nasrul Wathoni; Keri Lestari, Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jl. Raya Bandung Sumedang KM 21, Jatinangor, 45363, Indonesia, Tel [phone] 3510, Fax [phone], Email [email protected]; [email protected]: After the COVID-19 pandemic, telepharmacy has become increasingly widely used as an alternative to pharmaceutical care by remote pharmacists. Patients with diabetes mellitus are one of the patients who get benefit the most from telepharmacy practices, which allow patients to consult without meeting face to face and minimize the risk of virus transmission. The authors conduct an assessment of the benefits and limitations of using telepharmacy that are used throughout the world and then hopes that they can become a reference in the development of telepharmacy in the future. A total of 23 relevant articles were used for analysis in this narrative review after searching for articles in three sources, including PubMed, Google Scholar and ClinicalTrials.gov, until October 2022. This narrative review shows that telepharmacy plays an important role in improving clinical outcomes, patient therapy adherence and reduce the number of patient visit and hospitalization, but telepharmacy also has limitations in its use related to security and privacy, as well as pharmacist intervention that has not been maximized. However, telepharmacy has great potential to facilitate diabetes mellitus patients in pharmaceutical services.Keywords: diabetes mellitus, telepharmacy, benefits, limitations, pharmacist, COVID-19

Keywords

• diabetes mellitus
• telepharmacy
• benefits
• limitations
• pharmacist
• covid-19