PHARMACEUTICAL
INFORMATICS
LABORATORY | FIRST SEMESTER
INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATICS
Healthcare is under the constant process of
change and innovation in order to provide better
means of service provision for both patients and
healthcare providers alike. One of the underlying
themes in the evolution of healthcare is the use of
computers and technology for the enhancement of
the delivery of care towards the patient; which is
collectively known as informatics
INFORMATICS
The science of processing data for storage
and retrieval
This considers the interaction between
humans and information alongside the
construction of interfaces, organizations,
technologies and systems
Has a wide scope of coverage across
different disciplines
Health Informatics
An interdisciplinary study of design,
development, adoption, and application of
IT-based innovation in healthcare services
delivery, management, and planning (US
National Library of Medicine)
A field of information science concerned
with the analysis, use and dissemination of
medical data and information through
application of computer to carious aspects
of healthcare and medicine
Pharmacy Informatics
This is considered as a subset of medical
informatics and specifically deals with the
application of pharmacy related health data
for a variety of purposes
It is the use and integration of data,
information, knowledge, technology and
automation in the medication use process
for the purpose of improving health
outcomes
PRELIMS
Implications of Pharmacy Informatics
With the development of pharmacy informatics,
duties and responsibilities of pharmacists are
also increased and competency for use of these
technologies is well valued.
Health informatics systems engage pharmacists
across a variety of healthcare settings which
include e-prescribing, computerized prescriber
order entry (CPOE), electronic medical records
(EMR), electronic health records (EHR), bar
code dispensing and administration systems
(BCMA), automated dispensing cabinets,
controlled substances and prescription
monitoring programs
DRUG INFORMATION
The provision of written and/or verbal
information about drugs and drug therapy
in response to a request from other
healthcare providing organizations,
committees, patients, and the public
community
The Value and Need for Drug Information
Center
Major role in providing support for clinical
pharmacists and other healthcare
professionals
Advice which is beyond scope od standard
sources (provision of information with
clinical interpretation)
Contribute to improved therapeutic
outcomes as well as enhancing patient
safety
Provide direct patient related advice and
support the development and utilization of
decision support tools to enhance safety
Drug Information Center (DIC)
Provides in-depth, unbiased source of
crucial drug information by a service
offered through pharmacy department to
meet the needs of the practicing
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 PHARMACEUTICAL PRELIMS
INFORMATICS
LABORATORY | FIRST SEMESTER

physicians, and other healthcare

professionals

PHARMACIST S ROLE IN INFORMATICS

This information should be communicated

by a healthcare professional that is well
versed in the theoretical and rational use of
medication
Pharmacists are well equipped to relay
important information to patients,
healthcare professionals and other persons
that require drug related information

PHARMACIST INFORMATION SPECIALISTS

Pharmacy information specialists can

provide necessary information that can be
used in medication management, clinical
decision making prosses for prescribing,
public and patient education, research and
registration of drug products, drug cost
management, medication policy decisions
as well as medical and drug information
resource selection

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 PHARMACEUTICAL
INFORMATICS
LABORATORY | FIRST SEMESTER
PRIMARY, SECONDARY, AND TERTIARY LITERATURE
Drug information sources need to be tailor fit in
accordance to the person requiring the necessary
information.
It is the responsibility of the Pharmacists involved
in the drug information sources to bridge the gap
between the requestor of the information and the
one providing.
DRUG INFORMATION
Drug information is current, critically
examined, relevant information about
drugs and drug use in a given patient or
situation
Current information uses the most recent,
up to date sources possible
Critically examined information should
meet the following criteria:
More than one source should be
used when appropriate
The extent of agreement of sources
should be determined
The credibility of information, based
on clinical circumstances
Relevant information must be presented in
a manner that applies directly to the
circumstances under consideration (patient
parameters, therapeutic objectives,
alternate approaches)
CLASSIFICATION OF DRUG INFORMATION
RESOURCES
Primary
Most recent and up to date resource
E.g., Clinical research, studies, and
reports, patents, dissertations, original
research articles, case reports,
proceedings of conferences
Researcher s and manufacturer s
information
Provides in-depth information about a
topic, and allows the reader to analyze and
PRELIMS
critique the study methodology to
determine if the conclusions are valid
Require a longer time commitment and a
skilled expertise in literature evaluation to
accurately assess the value and
application to healthcare
Not all articles found in journals are
considered primary literature; e.g., review
articles that summarize the literature are
classified as tertiary resources
Advantages Disadvantages
Most current evidence Longer time
commitment
Provide data on new Require a skilled
drugs expertise
Keep up with new Does not guarantee
developments in that the article is
pathophysiology, accurate
diagnostic agents, and
therapeutic regimens
The information May not lead one to
obtained from this best decision because
literature is the basis of limited scope
for evidence-based
practice
Secondary
Indexing and abstracting systems that
organize and provide easy retrieval of
primary resources
E.g., MEDLINE (PubMed, EBSCO, Ovid)
and Cochrane Database of Systematic
Reviews
Mainly in the form of searchable database
that enables location and retrieval of
primary and tertiary resources
Using a secondary resource allows more
efficient and expedient search for either
primary literature or tertiary literature for a
given topic
Indexing systems include article citation,
with or without access to the abstract;
some include a link to the full text article
Proper training is required for efficient use
of these resource
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Evaluation of Tertiary Sources

Advantages Disadvantages Does the author have appropriate
Can construct Often require more experience/expertise to publish in
searches to find expertise to sue than this area?
specific information at primary or tertiary Is the information likely based on
high granularity the publication date?
Indexing sources Retrieved references Is the information supported by
create computerized must be filtered for appropriate citations?
records with additional quality
Does the resource contain relevant
information to make
information?
primary resources
easier to find Does the resource appear free from
Abstracting services Must track down bias or blatant errors?
provide up to date resources before
information looking for answers Advantages Disadvantages
Provide a quick and Lag time associated
easy summary of the with updating
Tertiary topic information
Excellent first line Possibility for errors in
Condensed and summarized by the
resources when transcription, human
author/editor for a quick and easy summary dealing with a DI bias, incorrect
of a topic question as most of the interpretation of
Textbooks, compendia, Electronic information needed is information, or lack of
Databases (Micromedex, Lexicomp) and found in these expertise by authors
review articles resources
Most commonly used first line resources of Information reflects
May be incomplete,
the information vies of multiple experts
due to space
Condensed and summarized data form the in field limitations of the
primary literature resource or incomplete
literature searches by
They provide general information to the
the author
topic Convenient, fast, and High dependency on
The best tertiary resources are written by easy to use the interpretation of
experts in the field and are peer reviewed authors
Some tertiary sources are available via
ebooks or electronically searchable online STEPWISE APPROACH TO FIND
application INFORMATION
Electronic resources are preferred
because:
Easier to use
Allow quicker access to information
Allow use of the same resource at
more than one location
Allow multiple searches to be
performed simultaneously
Often contain more recent
information

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INFORMATICS
LABORATORY | FIRST SEMESTER

Tertiary resources are preferred when:

Answer to question is basic factual
knowledge in the field
Questions was studied extensively and a
conclusion was made
Many experts have addressed the question
and agree on answer

Secondary and Primary resources are preferred

when:
A question is new and has never been
studies
There is no consensus among experts;
various opinions abound
There is conflicting evidence and the
question needs further study