ATTN: ALBERTA NEWS/HEALTH EDITORS
Pharmaceutical Information Network means better patient care for Albertans

A safe and efficient electronic system to view patient medication records is leading to better health care for Albertans.

The Pharmaceutical Information Network (PIN), a component of Alberta Netcare, enables some 20,000 authorized health care providers - including pharmacists, doctors and nurses - to view a patient's medication profile from any retail pharmacy in the province. They can also access information on the person's drug allergies and intolerances, use tools that can help identify potential drug interactions and utilize a database of all drugs available for prescribing and dispensing. A future e-prescription component will allow doctors to prescribe medication on a secure network accessible to any Alberta pharmacy.

Edmonton pharmacist Jody Shkrobot has extensive experience with the technology.

"I've been a pharmacist for 13 years, and in that time I've seen significant changes brought about by the PIN," says Shkrobot. "We have an additional source of information, one that helps to provide, clarify, and answer questions about a person's medication history. The Pharmaceutical Information Network is another tool we can use to help ensure medications have been appropriately prescribed and are the best treatment course."

As Shkrobot sees it, this kind of technology enables pharmacists to provide a broader scope of support because they are no longer working in isolation. "That's valuable in Alberta," he adds, "where more than 30 million prescriptions are filled each year – on average that’s 150 per pharmacy, every day."

You can learn more about the progress of electronic health record systems from Canada Health Infoway's Annual Report at www.infoway-inforoute.ca.

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For more information contact:

Dan Strasbourg
Canada Health Infoway
416.595.3424
dstrasbourg@infoway-inforoute.ca