Title 6. COMMUNITY PHARMACY MANAGEMENT E) USE OF COMPUTERS - BUSINESS AND HEALTH CARE SOFTWARES.pdf ✅

PHARMD GURU Page 1 USE OF COMPUTERS: BUSINESS AND HEALTH CARE SOFTWARES In recent times, computers have become a very important tool in all areas of science and technology. With the proliferation of the internet and the developments in computer technology, number of computer applications is increased. In the field of pharmacy, computers are used starting from drug designing & development to patient care. Various hardware and software have been developed to meet the needs of pharmaceutical industry and hospital & community pharmacy. Further development is still in progress which will make pharmacist's job easier. Following are the applications of computers in community pharmacy: 1) Communication 2) Prescription Processing 3) Checking the pharmaceutical care 4) Inventory control 5) Accountancy 1) COMMUNICATION: Computers are used within pharmacies to facilitate communication. From email to other internet-based messaging systems, online communication allows pharmacists and other pharmacy staff to keep in contact both within their own organization and also within the professional community. Some pharmacy chain companies have their own intranet systems for internal communications over the Internet. 2) PRESCRIPTION PROCESSING: Prescription processing is invariably one of the main activities going on within a pharmacy on a day-today basis, and computers are used to make this process more reliable and efficient. COMMUNITY PHARMACY MANAGEMENT E) USE OF COMPUTERS: BUSINESS AND HEALTH CARE SOFTWARES
PHARMD GURU Page 2 Both the customer service side of pharmacy operation and the dispensing aspects are today carried out through the use of computing systems. Pharmacy computers also handle customer service activities such as sales and cash handling within the retail operation. 3) ERROR PREVENTION: Pharmacy computer systems can help to prevent errors in prescriptions, potentially saving lives and generally preserving the health of patients. As well as checking medicines and combinations of medicines, these systems can in some cases check on patient information. Availability of such systems varies across the different geographical areas, but in some cases pharmacy computers are able to check on prescribed medicines with specific reference to a patient and their overall health-care picture. 4) INVENTORY CONTROL: Pharmacy software is so designed to give the accurate stock position at any point of time and also to give reorder levels. 5) ACCOUNTANCY: Community pharmacy is a retail business where all transactions are of financial nature. Thus it is very essential to record, classify and summarize all the financial transactions in order to know the profit and loss in the business. Thus accounting system is mandatory in any business. Accounting is defined “as the process of identifying, measuring and communicating economic information in a business'’. Accounting is a guide post for investors for investing into the business, for creditors to advance money to the firm and to the government to know its functioning and to consumers for price changes.
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