Abstract:

Electronic health care (eHealth) can be defined as an efficient and secure way of using information and communication technologies in health care delivery or health-related activities. It encompasses a variety of tools, applications, and technologies using computers, mobile devices, and the internet (medical informatics) to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of healthcare provided. Since 1 January 2018, the eHealth system has been launched in the Slovak Republic.

It contains applications such as:
a) ePN,
b) electronic services relating to the birth of a child,
c) Connecting the System,
d) Patient´s electronic health record,
e) eExamination,
f) eBooking,
g) Patient Summary,
h) electronic record of vaccination,
i) the application Moje ezdravie,
j) eAlerts,
k) eLab and also ePrescription (electronic prescribing and dispensing of medicines, medical devices, dietetic food).

Our research aimed to evaluate the impact of the introduction of eHealth on the level of pharmacy care provided, focusing on the function of electronic prescriptions. Based on a questionnaire survey, we investigated the awareness, opinions, and satisfaction of pharmacists and patients with the different eHealth functions, especially the electronic prescriptions. Almost all pharmacists prefered an ePrescription to a paper prescription. The practice has also experienced problems with the processing of an ePrescription when the pharmacy information system malfunctions or when there was a power outage. Despite technical problems, most pharmacists thought that the computerization of healthcare has streamlined the delivery of healthcare in the pharmacy. However, from the perspective of the patients surveyed, for most patients the computerisation of healthcare and the introduction of ePrescription have not brought about changes in the provision of pharmacy healthcare. This is also the reason why eHealth services need to be further improved minimising technical and other problems related to the functionality of eHealth and further developed for more efficient healthcare delivery and maximum use of the benefits offered by eHealth. At the same time, doctors and pharmacists need to be educated to learn how to work with all the functionalities that eHealth has brought. This, too, may help to minimize the errors that are perceived as disadvantages of eHealth and ePrescription. And that is why we will also focus on this area in our post.

Keywords:

e-Health, e-Prescription, pharmacist, patient, education.