Separation of Prescribing and Dispensing in Hong Kong

Separation of Prescribing and Dispensing in Hong Kong

Advantages:
1. Professional advice and patients counseling
2. Prompt professional dispensing by qualified pharmacists: reduce dispensing errors, save time
3. Professional monitoring of the pharmacotherapy
4. Large stock volume and high tune over: more choice and "fresh" medicine and low overhead
5. Cheaper medicine ( I wish the doctors can allow me to do a survey to compare the cost!)
6. Dispensing delivery
7. Repeat and installment dispensing
8. Monitor dosage system
9. Drug interaction monitoring with other over the counter or complementary medicine
10. Domicillary and palliative visit
11. Patients referrals
12. Items reduction and generic dispensing (A money saver & reducing adverse drug reactions)
13. Computer dispensing and patient medication record
14. Odd hours/ out-of hour access
15. Easy and unlimited free access nearby

16. Telephone counseling

17. Training and advising other health care
18. Medication review
19. Prescribing advice and development of local formularies
20. Disposal of unwanted/ expired medication
21. Therapeutic drug monitoring of side effects or adverse reaction
22. Outlet of basic health information
23. Health promotion campaigns
24. Emergency supply
25. A friendly environment that the patient familiar with
AND
26. All advice are FREE

~~~We would be very grateful if some medical doctors can list some "DISADVANTAGES" for us, we would be very please to answer!~~~

Experience tell us that when two professions are monitoring each other, the products are better!
That means the medicine are prescribed and dispensed solely for the benefits of the patients, (like in the public hospital), not limited by the stock, or financial incentives! The one who get all the benefits are the PATIENTS!

What more can you get by simply a change of the regulations or professional requirement!?

Here are some suggestions as temporary measure for the situation of HK:
1. Prescription should be handed to the patient directly (Mandatory Issuing of Prescription), as what the hospitals are doing. Let the patients choose whether they want to dispense the medicine in the clinic or outside! That can truly realizes the patient's "right to choose"*.
2. The prescription should be written in generic names
3. Doctors should not put any pressure directly or indirectly on where the medicine should be dispensed
4. The tariffs about the consultation fee and the medicine fee should be stated prominently on the wall of the clinic
5. The dispensing staffs/ nurses should be equipped with professional training in dispensing and patient consultation of not less than 1 year of full time study.

* Concerning the right to choose, I want Dr Lee Kin Hung or Medical Council to understanding Prescribing and Dispensing are two different professional disciplines. If the pharmacist demand a prescribing right, and claimed it is more convenient to the patient (we don't ask for consultation fee and no appointment is required!) and it is the patient's right to get prescription from the pharmacist. I would like to have their opinion about that.

Please don't confuse the issue! If your argument is correct, why not legalise the pirate CD and let the consumer to have more choice.

On the other hand, we are not demanding a complete separation of prescribing and dispensing at the moment, and we are not" powerful enough" to take away the doctor's right to do dispensing. We are just demanding the issuing of prescription and let's the patient decide. We are, in fact, working on the same direction in promoting patient's right!

Yes! It is a matter about Patient's Right and Right or Wrong.

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Last updated:2000/01/05