Sources of drug information. Computerized services, and storage and retrieval of information. The drug information center routinely receives queries from hospital staff, patients, and responds to queries regarding ADRs, drug interactions, pharmacokinetic parameters of drugs, and information on new drugs available in the market. Drug information services help in improving patient safety, minimizing drug- related issues to the patient, and rational use of drugs by both physician and patient. Drug information service
It is provision of written and/ or verbal information about drugs and drug therapy in response to request form, from health care professionals, patients or public. OR Drug information services is any objective, scientifically derived and documented data or knowledge, involving the pharmacological, toxicological and therapeutic use of drug. Drug and Poison Information Centers
Drug and Poison Information Centers (DPICs) are specialized facilities that provide critical information regarding the management and treatment of poisoning and drug-related inquiries. These centers serve both healthcare professionals and the general public, offering services that include immediate advice on poison exposure, drug interactions, and adverse reactions. Drug and Poison Information Centers (DPICs) provide quick, easy, valid and reliable access to medication and toxin information for professionals, health workers and the public. Based on the available data, these centers can help to early identify and prevent adverse drug reactions (ADRs) along with optimize the use of drugs. By the introduction of new drugs into the market, it is necessary to promote knowledge of health care professionals about different aspects of drug information. In addition, the need to these centres has been specially felt in countries with the limited access of physicians, pharmacists and other providers of health services to drugs and poisons information sources. Drug Information Centre: This centre provide bank of information on the drug by abstracting information about them from standard text book ,journals literatures ,research papers ,formularies and pharmacopoeia etc. Poisons Information Centre (PIC) Poison information centre is a specialized unit providing information on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of poisoning and hazard management. Objectives of DIC
1. To meet the needs of health-care practitioners by providing an organized database source
of information on specialized medicines 2. To provide unbiased medicinal information to the pharmacists, physicians, and other health-care professionals working in the hospital field and community field 3. To serve the community-based health-care professionals by answering about various drug-related queries 4. To recognize and guide about the importance of evaluation and also to monitor about the quality of drug information 5. To educate and guide pharmacy graduates and to serve them as effective providers on medicinal information 6. To define the basic requirements for establishing DIC at various levels 7. To provide a learning center about drug information skills to student pharmacists and residents, and other health sciences students 8. To aid in the promotion of clinical pharmacy health-care services by offering drug information services throughout the state. 9. To promote the profession of pharmacy in various health-related fields 10. To provide evidence-based practice by promoting patient care through the rational use of medicines Poison information centre
In India, the National Poisons Information Centre (NPIC) was established in February, 1995 in the Department of Pharmacology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. The centre provides toxicological information and advice on the management of poisoned patients adopted to the level of the enquirer. Toxicovigilance and prevention of poisoning is another major function of PIC. The Centre has prepared manuals and leaflets on prevention and management cards on treatment of various poisonings. Thus the Centre provides a service with considerable health benefits, reducing morbidity and mortality from poisoning and gives significant financial savings to the community. https://aiims.edu/index.php/hi/npic_intro Sources of drug information
1. Primary sources – Information obtained from basic researches and developments which is published in brief for first time. Information on internet, website, c.d. 2. Secondary sources – Information in the form of abstracts, journals, periodicals, references and official books is called secondary sources. i) Journals and periodicals – American journal of hospitals pharmacy, Indian journal of hospitals pharmacy, Journal of clinical pharmacology. ii) Text books – Text book of hospitals pharmacy, clinical toxicology. iii) Reference books- Remingtons pharmaceutical science, Merk index iv) Pharmacopoeias – The Indian Pharmacopoeia, British Pharmacopoeia v) Formularies – National formulary of Indian, National formulary of America. 3) Tertiary Sources – It include dictionaries, encyclopedias, desk references The Chemist and Druggist directory Indian Pharmaceutical Guide- which gives the manufacturers or suppliers catalogues and price list. Medical register and Directory of Pharmaceutical Chemists. -Statistical Table and Mathematical table to provide scientific data. Drug information Bulletin:
The drug Information Centre may publish a journal or periodical or any booklet about current or amendment information on drugs, Various technical aspects and modernization of hospital practices for all the health professional which is referred as “Drug information Bulletin” Importance of DIB 1. To provide current information to physician, pharmacist, nursing staff and fellow candidates of all disciplines through bulletin in shortest possible time. 2. It is a link between the DIC and health professional 3. It helps hospital staffs regarding recent researches in medical science, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, adverse effect, drug interaction. 4. It may give abstract service for new drug development. 5. It gives detail analysis of drug information to the physician. 6. It also publishes matter in question –Answer session /column in the bulletin. Functions of NPIC:
Provision of Information and Advice
The NPIC provides information and advice on management of poisoning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On receiving an enquiry on telephone/fax or in person, details about the patient and poisoning are noted on the present proforma (Fig. 1) and immediately Poisindex Database is consulted for all the relevant details by a trained poisons information specialist. Patient Management The people who come in contact with the poisoned patient may have little or no medical training in first- aid. The centre provides information and advice about the first-aid measures and transport of the patient to the hospital. The NPIC also informs about the availability of antidotes. It provides information on dosing schedule, indications, contraindications and monitoring of side effects of antidotes. Laboratory Services The laboratory service of a poisons control programme provides the identification and characterization of the toxic substances in both biological and non-biological samples, to assist in diagnosis and treatment of the patients. Teaching and Training International seminar, training course and workshop on diagnosis, management and prevention of poisoning Toxicovigilance Identification and evaluation of the toxic risks in the community and steps to reduce or eliminate them is an important function of the NPIC Prevention, Research Drug Information and Pharmacovigillance Provision of information on problems of adverse reactions, abuse of drugs and side effects of pharmaceutical agents is an important function of poisons information centres. Enquiries regarding the contraindications of drugs, prescription of various drugs in pregnancy or in patients with renal or hepatic disease are responded by NPIC. Computerized services:
use of computer systems has extended extremely due to increased informational needs of the pharmacist and the increased amount of paper work required in the practice. Pharmacists may also use internet facilities to obtain and download information on any disease and related drug therapy for their patients. Use of computer reduces paperwork and manual record keeping, and increases the efficiency of transactional processes. Application of Computers in Pharmacy There is an important role of computer services in the basic pharmacy research and in the A development of following clinical pharmacy practices and services: Patient record Management. Entries of Medication Orders. Patient Medication Profile. Drug Therapy Monitoring and Problem Detection. Record of Drug-Drug Interactions. Record of Adverse Drug Reactions. Inventory control. Medical Research. Computerizing Drug Information System. Building Data base Maintenance of patient record Following are the details for the explanation to use of computer services in one of the clinical pharmacy practice services i.e. in management of patient record. Clinical computer system must guarantee about the database of patient 's record, which is continuously updated and reproduces the current status of all patients. This updating of patient information is done by assessing the database of patient admitting department for the recent entries related to new patient admission, discharge of patients, and transfer of cases. Pharmacist need to assess this entry regularly to maintain the patient record up to date. The computer system also capable in producing of the other information such as; present diagnosis report, allergic history, weight and height of patients, name of attending physician, and any special note about the patient. Clinical Trials Management: Computers facilitate the management of clinical trials, ensuring the safety and efficacy of new drugs through rigorous data analysis and monitoring Drug Information Systems: Computers store vast amounts of drug-related data, enabling pharmacists to access information on drug interactions, side effects, and therapeutic guidelines quickly E-Learning Tools: Computers support pharmacy education through digital libraries, online courses, and simulation laboratories that enhance learning experiences for students. Inventory Management: Computers help pharmacies manage inventory efficiently by tracking stock levels, automating reordering processes, and ensuring that medications are available when needed Medication Monitoring: It is essential to meet the goals of optimum drug therapy. Computers are used for the following two types of information: i) Pharmacokinetic Information: The pharmacokinetic parameters ( e.g., volume of distribution, bioavailability, clearance rate, etc.) of a drug can be easily predicted using a computer program such as NONLIN. Knowledge about these parameters helps in maintaining a dosing pattern of various drugs , like antibiotics, aminoglycosides Non-Pharmacokinetic Information: The non-pharmacokinetic parameters (e.g., various allergic reactions, drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, etc.) can be obtained by using either of the two computer programs, i.e., MEDIPHOR (Monitoring and Evaluation of Drug Interactions by a Pharmacy Oriented Reporting) or PAD (Pharmacy Automated Drug interaction screening). MEDIPHOR MEDIPHOR stands for Monitoring and Evaluation of Drug Interactions by a Pharmacy-Oriented Reporting. This system is utilized to monitor and evaluate potential drug interactions, helping pharmacists and healthcare providers make informed decisions regarding patient medication management. It aids in identifying adverse reactions and interactions between various drugs, thereby improving patient safety and medication efficacy PAD Pharmacy Automated Drug Interaction Screening, complements MEDIPHOR by automating the screening process for drug interactions. This program is designed to assist pharmacists in quickly identifying potential interactions between prescribed medications, thus facilitating safer prescribing practices Data Storage and Retrieval: In 1960‟s, the National Library of Medicine developed a computerized medical information retrieval system , called MEDLARS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System). Now , a highly efficient and accurate working system , called MEDLINE (MEDLARS ON - LINE) has also been developed, which is a database comprising of about 300 bio-medical journals. Similarly, Bioscience Information Service has created another database , called BIOSIS comprising of various biological abstracts. MEDLARS, which stands for Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System, is a pioneering computer-based system developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) to provide rapid access to a vast collection of biomedical literature. Established in 1964, it was designed to facilitate bibliographic retrieval and to support the preparation of publications like the Index Medicus, a comprehensive guide to medical articles from thousands of journals
