Multimodal Consulting
Walking out of the clinic with a prescription in hand, Ms. Nguyen Tra My (residing in Phu Yen province) was still wondering about the effects and how to use the drugs that the doctor had just prescribed. She took the opportunity to ask the pharmacist while receiving the drugs and was introduced to the drug consultation room. Here, Ms. Tra My received in-depth advice from the doctor about the uses, points to note and how to use each drug to ensure safety and effectiveness.
Ms. Tra My from Phu Yen province, had gestational diabetes and was referred to Gia Dinh People's Hospital by a local hospital. Due to the distance, after the doctor's on-site consultation, she was instructed to log in to the hospital's Zalo page to ask any questions she had. The Zalo page uses artificial intelligence (AI) to answer patients' questions 24/7.
“At first, I was worried that using too much medicine would affect the baby, but after receiving careful advice from the doctor, I felt more secure. The doctor also instructed me to look up information via the Zalo application, so later I could find out at home without having to return to the hospital to ask,” said Ms. Tra My.
Every day, the Gia Dinh People's Hospital's drug consultation room provides in-depth consultation to about 20 patients. At the clinics and when dispensing drugs, patients are also consulted on how to use and the effects of each type of drug.
Dr. Pham Hong Tham, Deputy Head of the Pharmacy Department, Gia Dinh People's Hospital, said that with more than 5,000 patients examined and treated every day, of which more than 4,000 are offline patients, the need for drug consultation is very large. Daily direct consultation only meets a small part. Therefore, since 2022, the hospital has established a model of "Multimedia drug consultation and use for outpatients".
The model uses Telehealth technology combined with multi-modal consultation (directly, via software, video) to provide information about drugs to patients, especially those with chronic diseases. The model helps reduce the burden on medical staff, helping patients avoid having to travel to the hospital many times, but can look up information at home with reliable sources carefully selected by the hospital. After implementation, the model was evaluated to bring good results, the number of consultations increased over the years, with nearly 2,200 consultations in 2024.
Improve treatment effectiveness
Sharing about the initiative to deploy a multimedia drug consultation and use model for outpatients, Dr. Pham Hong Tham said that currently, clinical pharmacy activities for outpatients focus mainly on reviewing the rationality of prescriptions. Drug consultation for outpatients only stops at instructing the number of doses and time of taking according to the doctor's orders, although patients need more information about the drugs they are using - such as the treatment indications of the drug, possible side effects, drug-drug interactions, or drugs with the patient's daily food...
In addition, many types of drugs have complicated usage, such as asthma inhalers, insulin injections and many drugs with accompanying devices. However, due to many objective and subjective factors affecting work, equipment and document sources, professional personnel..., optimizing drug use consultation still faces many difficulties and limitations.
Therefore, Gia Dinh People's Hospital has built a multi-modal consultation program, in which, initially implemented and evaluated on high-risk subjects such as chronic patients (using oral anticoagulants, hypertension, diabetes, etc.), ensuring safety in drug use, improving treatment effectiveness, especially for high-risk drug groups, narrow therapeutic range, unwanted effects, etc.
According to Dr. Pham Hong Tham, to ensure safety and effectiveness for patients, the consulting information is compiled and strictly censored by experts, helping patients understand and apply it correctly during the process of using the drug. A special feature is the model of applying information technology (Telepharmacy) and online tools such as Zalo to provide consultation, helping to improve drug management and remote patient monitoring.
Applying digital transformation in health management helps patients easily access quality medical services without having to visit the hospital regularly. At the same time, it helps support patients to be able to take care of their own health, adjust their diet and lifestyle effectively.
“This combined consulting model is expected to reduce the burden and workload for medical staff while still ensuring safety and effectiveness for patients,” shared Dr. Pham Hong Tham, Deputy Head of Pharmacy Department, Gia Dinh People's Hospital.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/diem-tua-cho-nguoi-benh-ngoai-tuyen-post801298.html
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