Over the Edge - February 01

features

Innovative Prescription Drug
Machines Hit Remote Communities

New and Convenient Technology Impresses
First Nation Communities

LAURA BEVACQUA
FEATURES EDITOR

ouchpoint Pharmacy is reinventing the

way First Nations and other remote com-

munities have access to pharmacy and

health professionals that are often located off

the reserve and far away. New drug dispensing

machines are being installed in local commun-

ity facilities that provide convenient access to

prescription drugs and even a pharmacist over
videoconference.

For the last couple of years, the machines
have been operating out of some Toronto-area
hospitals while the company has been in discus-
sions with the Ontario provincial government
and Ontario College of Pharmacy to pan out
final details.

Some First Nations communities have already
hailed the service and recognize the benefits in
having a cutting-edge system within their com-
munities. Last fall, chief of Curve Lake Keith
Knott commented in thestar.com and expressed
his interest and enthusiasm in the service. “I
think it’s a great, a great machine,” said Knott.
“Tt will be helpful to our members and that’s the
key to this whole thing.”

Sometimes it is difficult to find full time med-
ical staff on the reserve as doctors make visits
on a limited basis. Prescriptions then are filled
at pharmacies off the reserve. “It makes it a lot

Touchpoint’s innovative drug dispenser machine

easier,” said Knott. “It’s a safety matter, espe-
cially in bad weather.”

The machines only carry prescription drugs
and Touchpoint has made it very clear that the
machines do not dispense narcotics. Touchpoint
President Peter Saunders described this new
venture and commented, “What we’re trying

to do is bring pharmacy to where pharmacy has
never been before.”

So how exactly does the system work? You
have a prescription. You deposit it into the ma-
chine and it is then scanned and sent to a phar-
macist in Oakville, Ont., who checks it for ac-
curacy by using high-tech software that can

detect whether another pen or hand has been
used to alter the script. A driver’s licence or
other picture ID is also scanned to compare with
the person standing in front of the video screen
as the pharmacist and patient talk over a phone
line.

Touchpoint pharmacist Nancy Attalla has
said that the innovative system has given her
the focus that is required to for each individual
customer. “It allows me to be totally focused on
a single patient where as in a store, there are so
many distractions, other people asking ques-
tions.”

“Sometimes First Nations people can be shy,
so it’s a big deal here, especially for elderly
people, those with language barriers. They are
sceptical, but once they see other people use it,
they’ll be encouraged to use it, too” said Attalla.
A percentage of the profits from the machines
also go back to the community to help fund pro-
grams at the health centre.

“T think people are impressed that we have
a pharmacy now,” said Phyllis Williams, Curve
Lake’s health and family services manager. “We
still practice our traditional medicines. We can
have the best of both worlds.”

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