The Digital Health Era: the need for telepharmacy in Brazil and aspects of social and economic impacts
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Faced with the growth of digital health, telepharmacy has emerged as an alternative to overcome obstacles to patient care and monitoring and stands out in relation to the traditional pharmacy model, as it offers greater access to services, a higher level of patient satisfaction, and lower costs. It is estimated that telepharmacy will create spaces for advice, discussions, and analyses concerning health matters, allowing for better communication with patients or at least a better understanding of their needs in relation to their health and treatments. OBJECTIVE: To highlight the need for the implementation and evolution of telepharmacy in Brazil, to evaluate telepharmacy during COVID-19, and to observe models of use in other countries. METHOD: A bibliographical review was carried out on the topic based on information obtained from the Google Scholar, SciELO, PubMed, Web of Science, and Science Direct databases, with a selection of articles published between 2012 and 2022. CONCLUSION: The Federal Council of Pharmacy took an important step towards the implementation of telepharmacy; however, Brazil does not yet have a defined plan for telepharmacy aimed at public health. Hence, this review makes it possible to better understand the importance of telehealth when facing a pandemic and allows us to ask if the difficulties faced by the country during COVID-19 might have been less impacting if a well-established telehealth scenario had been in place. It will be up to the government to create the scenario for the evolution of telepharmacy and up to the universities to prepare future professionals for the digital era in some pharmaceutical care services that can be carried out remotely.
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