INTRODUCING AI IN PRESCRIPTION MANAGEMENT:

Reading and understanding the handwritten prescription of the physician has always been a hectic and challenging one, only people who are professional can easily read and understand it. Well, as artificial intelligence (AI) is exponentially developing in various healthcare sectors, the prescriptions can also be automated with the help of various AI tools. Using generative AI tools, the process of identifying and optimizing the errors in the dosage forms, dose, frequency, route of administration or any other medication errors found in the prescription can be solved. So, the therapeutic outcome of a particular can be greatly improved. This article explores the role of AI in prescription management, it’s benefits, challenges, limitations and the future trends in the evolving healthcare.

OVERVIEW OF PRESCRIPTION MANAGEMENT PROCESSES:

Prescription management involves documented evidence that a provider has evaluated medications as part of a patient’s care. This evaluation can include writing a new prescription, discontinuing an existing one, or deciding to continue a current medication or dosage. There are five processes involved in prescription management:

• Prescribing medications
• Verification of the drugs
• Dispensing and delivering of the drugs
• Administering
• Monitoring the medication adherence and reporting.

The monitoring of the medication adherence can be done by patient counselling and the details obtained from the patients can be documented to further continue the treatment. Prescription management ensures the safety and efficacy of the prescribed drugs.

CHALLENGES IN PRESCRIPTION MANAGEMENT:

• Errors may occur during prescribing medications which are denoted as medication errors that may lead to various complications and life-threatening events.
• Challenges may occur during refilling the medicines, as proper records may not be maintained by the patient, or the patient may forget about the refill or may fail to adhere to the medications.
• The patient may also fail to revisit the physician to review his/her current condition and also fail to update his/her prescription.

These challenges faced in prescription management can be overcome by the aid of AI tools that can be useful to physicians, pharmacists and to patients themselves.

UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF AI IN PRESCRIPTION MANAGEMENT:

The main role of AI in prescription management is to minimize the workload of the pharmacist and also help them to make evidence-based clinical decisions, by aiding them in dispensing accurate medicines and improving medication management and patient care. AI models has been developed to detect and identify adverse drug reactions, drug-drug interactions, and contraindications that can occur due to drugs prescribed of same class. The dosing to a particular drug can be made accurate by calculating the dose according to the personalized details provided about the patient i.e., age, body weight, gender, any known allergies etc., with the help of AI.

AI TOOLS IN DRUG-DRUG INTERACTION DETECTION:

As a prescription contains a greater number of medications mistakenly a physician can prescribe or unknowingly a patient can consume medications which may lead to drug-drug interaction. Unidentified or poorly managed drug interactions may pose serious complications, toxicity, adverse effects, therapeutic failure and even death. Healthcare providers should be very cautious while managing the prescription to avoid these kinds of drug interactions. For those reasons, AI can be in use as it may report any interaction that is found between the prescribed medications by the healthcare providers or the patients themselves can obtain information about the interaction between the prescribed medicines and the medicines, they are already taking apart from those prescribed ones such as other OTC medications.

BENEFITS OF AI IN THE BETTERMENT OF PRESCRIPTION MANAGEMENT:

The digitalized version of the prescription incorporating AI tools in it can make it easier for the healthcare workers to create, complete, error-free and understandable e-prescriptions without writing or keyboard typing by enabling quality-assured treatment.

BENEFITS OF AI FOR THE PATIENTS:

Patients can benefit from this leaving zero chance of errors in drug consumption as they can get immediate information about the prescribed drugs, drug-food interactions can be managed, a diet plan with respect to the prescribed medications can be made or any other information the patient prefers to read, wants to understand, ask doubts regarding the prescription can be made simple for the patients by the use of AI.

The AI can be used as a reminder for the next checkup or to review the prescription, and can be used as the reminder to timely consume the medications thereby enhancing the medication adherence.

It can help in illustrating the usage or procedure about the administration of the prescribed drugs or self-insertion of any medical devices or injections (e.g., insulin) can be read and understood by the patients.

BENEFITS OF AI IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS:

AI models can make the decision-making processes easier for healthcare providers with valuable tools that is the physicians can prescribe medications as preferred by the patients and to provide with rationalized medicines. This can lead to more personalized treatment plans and better patient outcomes.

Patient records can be maintained perfectly; any updation in the patient’s profile can be made; information regarding the patient’s medications, and treatment can be obtained effectively.

CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS OF AI IN PRESCRIPTION MANAGEMENT:

• DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY RISKS: One of the main challenges of AI in prescription management is ensuring the patient’s data privacy and security.
• BIAS IN TRAINING DATA: Bias in training data can lead to unequal treatment and misdiagnosis of demographic groups.
• ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN PRESCRIPTION MANAGEMENT: Adoption faces resistance due to trust issues, high costs and possible overreliance on AI. Ethical concerns arise from AI decisions conflicting with patient preferences. Data quality and cybersecurity risks, including privacy violations, also pose significant challenges.

CONCLUSION:

• FUTURE TRENDS OF AI: The goal of AI is to enhance human lives, improve efficacy, and solve complex challenges within seconds. From speeding up of processes to unlocking new possibilities, in the discovery of new things in various fields, AI can be of great use. Get ready for a future where AI is the secret ingredient in finding the next big breakthrough in medicine.
• PROMISING IMPACT OF AI IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY: From machine learning to robotics and computer vision, these trends pave way for a future where AI becomes an integral part of our human lives. From delivering personalized medications to decision-making processes, the impact of AI is set to revolutionize how medications are prescribed, discovered, developed, distributed, delivered, and stocked. AI is driving the pharma world full speed ahead! As AI continues to advance and integrate into healthcare systems, novel innovations can be made in prescription management. By navigating the challenges, and limitations of AI implementation, addressing ethical considerations, and coping up with the emerging trends, healthcare providers can tackle the power of AI to optimize prescription practices and thereby eventually improve patient care. The future is undoubtedly interlaced with AI, offering promising opportunities for enhanced efficacy, accuracy, and personalized treatment approaches in the ever-changing scene of healthcare.

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