The problem with technology is that in the process, there is a human being (who does make mistakes) inputing the data and a human being on the recieving end.
I have seen a lot of technology that fail because it tries to replace the pharmacist or health care professional rather than implement and improve the process of it. I also stress a lot of times to people who mention technology replacing pharmacists that a lot of drug errors and medical errors are due to over information.
With that said, I think outsourcing is a more serious problem than technology. Technology when done correctly can reduce costs (computer data keeping), improve efficacy, and increase profits allowing for more pharmacies to open. Outsourcing however has put a lot of people out of a job. We now have lawyers in India reviewing documents and practicing radiology medicine.
In the end, pharmacists and other primary care providers (OD) are here to stay because they are suppose to be cost saving to begin with. I know the errors that I catch daily are saving my hospital millions in potential lawsuits (in coagulation alone). Heck, just by doing renal dosing which optimizes drug therapy, I am reducing drug costs (For example, MD orders vanco 1 g q12 hours which is two bags, but I got it reduced to q24 hrs based on Crcl, saving the hospital one bag of vanco). That alone pays for my salary and saving medicaid/medicare millions from toxicities/side effects, reduced bed days, and superbugs.
Oh yeah, reading IndianaOD post, I almost forgot that the greatest threat is an oversuppy of healthcare professionals. I am sick of new pharmacy schools opening up when we have saturation in some places.
I completely screwed that up.
