Evaluating the effectiveness of research electronic data capture system on home pharmaceutical care in Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan has become an aged society, meaning 20% of its citizens will be over 65 years by 2030. In order to provide a better health service for the elderly, the National Health Insurance Administration had launched the home pharmaceutical care services through community pharmacies in Taiwan. Traditionally, the community pharmacies use paper-and-pencil dorms to record the interview during their home visit for the patients. There is an urgent need to create an efficient and effective information system for community pharmacies to implement home pharmaceutical care services. The aim of this study was to develop a medication information system with a built-in database using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) when pharmacists practice their community pharmaceutical care services. The benefits of REDCap providing data integrity, cost savings and a shorter time for data entry for community pharmacists. In addition, we investigated the satisfaction and effectiveness of community pharmacists using REDCap as their pharmaceutical care services. The results show that community pharmacists are satisfied with REDCap, which can provide both convenience and efficiency for their home pharmaceutical care services.