Tecnologías de la información y la comunicación al servicio de la atención farmacéutica: “Tu farmacéutico de guardia”, una web por y para los pacientes / Information and communication technologies at the service of pharmaceutical care: «Your pharmacist on duty», a website by and for patients

Objetivo: Alineado con la recomendación de la OMS de incorporar a la atención sanitaria diferentes estrategias de salud digital, el objetivo es doble: describir las funcionalidades y recursos de una página web creada para formar e informar a los pacientes y analizar la actividad de la herramienta tras un periodo de funcionamiento de seis años.Material y métodos: Los pasos que se siguieron en la creación de la web fueron: 1) desarrollo del logotipo y sistema de marca; 2) creación de contenidos tanto escritos como audiovisuales y 3) campaña de lanzamiento. Para evaluar su uso se realizó un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo (septiembre 2015 – noviembre 2021) en el que se recogieron los indicadores clave de rendimiento.Resultados: La web se estructuró en 11 grupos de patologías disponiendo de información escrita (179 fichas) y audiovisual (61 videos) sobre medicamentos y un repositorio de temas actuales sobre la salud a modo de noticias (515 reseñas publicadas). Desde su lanzamiento se han registrado un total de 176.530 visitas por 150.004 usuarios diferentes. En noviembre de 2020 se rediseñó la web, optimizándola para móviles con un diseño de marca renovado; hecho que reportó un importante crecimiento de las visitas, siendo el móvil (74,9%) el dispositivo de visualización más utilizado en este último periodo. (AU)

Objectives: To write the functionalities and resources of a web page created to train and inform patients and to analyze the activity of the tool after a six-year operating period. These two objectives are aligned with the WHO recommendation to incorporate different digital health strategies into health care.Material and methods: To create the web page we followed the next steps: 1) development of the logo and brand system; 2) creation of written and audiovisual content and 3) launch campaign. To evaluate the use of the web page, a retrospective descriptive study was carried out (September 2015 – November 2021) and key performance indicators were collected.Results: The website was structured into 11 groups of pathologies, including written information (179 files) and audiovisual information (61 videos) about drugs and a repository of current health topics shown as news (515 published reviews). Since its launch, a total of 176,530 visits have been registered by 150,004 different users. In November 2020 the web was redesigned, optimizing it for mobile devices and with a renewed brand design. This update reported a significant growth in visits, with mobile phones being the most used display (74.9%) in this last period. (AU)

[Improving inpatient pharmacoterapeutic process by Lean Six Sigma methodology]. / Mejora del proceso farmacoterapéutico del paciente hospitalizado mediante la metodología Lean Seis Sigma.

BACKGROUND: Lean Six Sigma methodology has been used to improve care processes, eliminate waste, reduce costs, and increase patient satisfaction. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the results obtained with Lean Six Sigma methodology in the diagnosis and improvement of the inpatient pharmacotherapy process during structural and organisational changes in a tertiary hospital. SCOPE: 1.000 beds tertiary hospital. DESIGN: prospective observational study. The define, measure, analyse, improve and control (DMAIC), were deployed from March to September 2011. An Initial Project Charter was updated as results were obtained. POPULATION AND SAMPLE: 131 patients with treatments prescribed within 24h after admission and with 4 drugs. VARIABLES: safety indicators (medication errors), and efficiency indicators (complaints and time delays). RESULTS: Proportion of patients with a medication error was reduced from 61.0% (25/41 patients) to 55.7% (39/70 patients) in four months. Percentage of errors (regarding the opportunities for error) decreased in the different phases of the process: Prescription: from 5.1% (19/372 opportunities) to 3.3% (19/572 opportunities); Preparation: from 2.7% (14/525 opportunities) to 1.3% (11/847 opportunities); and administration: from 4.9% (16/329 opportunities) to 3.0% (13/433 opportunities). Nursing complaints decreased from 10.0% (2119/21038 patients) to 5.7% (1779/31097 patients). The estimated economic impact was 76,800 euros saved. CONCLUSIONS: An improvement in the pharmacotherapeutic process and a positive economic impact was observed, as well as enhancing patient safety and efficiency of the organization. Standardisation and professional training are future Lean Six Sigma candidate projects.