Applications of Compute

rs in pharmacy

MADE BY:
SIR NASEEM AHMED KHAN
DOW VOCATIONAL & TECHNICAL TRAINING CENTRE
 What are the applications of
Computers in pharmacy?
Right now computers and pharmacy go hand in han
d. Drug and patient database management; order en
try systems; drug information; billing; purchasing; a
utomated dispensing units; and on and ON! If you
have a background in both health care and compute
rs/computer science you will be a hot product.
Today we can exchange health information and pro
vide services across geographic, time and social bo
undaries.
Computer & Medical Education

Computers have revolutionized the way educ

ation is handled in the today’s world.. In medical
education, computers are particularly useful beca
use there is such a need for learning and presenti
ng large amounts of data, getting and comparing
accurate study and test results, and effectively m
onitoring patients.
 Health informatics

Health care informatics or medical infor

matics is the intersection of information science, comp
uter science, and health care. It deals with the resources,
devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisiti
on (gaining), storage, retrieval, and use of information i
n health and biomedicine.
Health informatics tools include not only compute
rs but also clinical guidelines, formal medical terminolo
gies, and information and communication systems. It is
applied to the areas of nursing, clinical care, dentistry, p
harmacy, public health and (bio)medical research.
 Computer-aided design of drugs

A further refinement of new drug design and

production was provided by the process of com
puter-aided design (CAD). With the availability
of powerful computers and sophisticated graphi
cs software, it is possible for the medicinal chem
ist to design new molecules and evaluate their ef
fectiveness.
 Presentations
The field of medicine often relies on complex defin
itions of conditions and procedural techniques. If you a
re an educator, use the computer to show your medical
students PowerPoint presentations that simplify the larg
e amounts of text often needed in medical science. Stick
to the basics in the visual presentations. You also may u
se computers to present video data of medical policies
or procedures, or for slide shows of diseases or traumas
and their treatments.
 Papers
If you are doing a medical research study, yo
u can use the computer to write your findings, format a
paper for publication, find relevant studies on the Inter
net or print posters for medical conferences. If you use
the Internet, stick to reputable information sources suc
h as electronic versions of medical journals. Being able t
o write these kinds of papers is crucial in establishing yo
ur credibility as a medical professional because they sho
w that you have an understanding of one or more medi
cal topics and are able to conduct research and present i
nformation.
 Simulations

 Because medicine involves hands-on work, medi

cal students need to practice procedures before t
hey do the procedure for real on a patient. Use c
omputer programs that simulate surgery and oth
er procedures to meet this need.
 Informational Storage

Computers can store massive amounts of data. Use

a computer or personal digital assistant to take and stor
e notes on any patients you may see as you go on super
vised rounds. This makes it much easier to find the me
dical information you need when discussing the patient
and reduces the physical amount of papers and texts yo
u need to carry with you. This is very important in medi
cine, since efficiency and ease of referencing medical inf
ormation impacts the speed and accuracy of patient trea
tment.
 Testing and Self Evaluation

Use computers to take tests on medical subje

cts or to quiz yourself on medical data. The advantage o
f this is that you can get immediate feedback and do not
need to depend on your instructor to review informatio
n or to find out how well you have learned. If you use t
his method, keep your tests or reviews short and use th
em often rather than having huge long tests and reviews
. You are more likely to retain information if you use it
frequently, and in medicine, you'll also be called on to p
ull many medical facts daily from memory.
 Drug Information Services
Pharmaceutical companies are responsible fo
r providing updated, relevant information on the
efficacy, safety and quality of drugs to medical p
rofessionals and finally to patients. To fulfill this
responsibility, they developed a drug informatio
n database system to manage various informatio
n generated during development of new product
s and after launch of the products.
This system is incorporated into an on-line n
etwork system, and can be directly accessed by t
housands of people all over the world.
INFORMATION SYSTEM IN TH
E PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTR
Y (IS) is any combination of
An information system
information technology and people's activities using tha
t technology to support operations, management, and d
ecision-making.
Advanced pharmaceutical companies are realizing t
hat the implementation of information management tec
hnologies in their operations can greatly enhance their c
hances for success by reducing their time-to-market and
enhancing efficiency in their production runs.