31 Jan 2025

Artificial intelligence: enhancing safety and efficiency in clinical pharmacy practice

Artificial intelligence: enhancing safety and efficiency in clinical pharmacy practice

Understanding the place of artificial intelligence (AI)

According to a report by The Health Foundation, over half of the UK public (54%) and three-quarters of NHS staff (76%) support the use of AI for patient care. AI has been gradually introduced into pharmacy practice with a clinical and operational focus in recent decades, with tools such as inventory management systems and dispensary workflow optimisation solutions becoming commonplace.

AI has infiltrated daily life and has become a powerful driver of patient expectations in healthcare and pharmacy practice is no exception. Beyond localised implementation, AI is being discussed at national and strategic level, as evidence by UK ministers committing to a national AI Opportunities Action Plan earlier this month. It is clear that pharmacy practice must keep pace with the ongoing wider digital transformations occurring across all sectors, but do the opportunities outweigh the challenges?

Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) AI policy

This month, the RPS published a new policy outlining the potential of AI and its use in supporting pharmacy practice and improving patient care. This policy was developed in conjunction with experts from pharmacy and beyond and has an overall focus on the responsible use of AI to improve the safe and effective use of medicines in any care setting to achieve better patient outcomes. Some of its suggestions include:

  • The importance of upskilling through education and training to boost AI skills and knowledge to better equip the pharmacy workforce for the future.
  • The role of pharmacy leadership and professionals in protecting patient data to maintain a high standard of compliance and minimise privacy risks of AI tools.
  • Developing AI tools with input from other sectors and collaborating with AI experts outside of pharmacy for appropriate and effective solutions that meet clinical demands.
  • Prioritising strictly governed and safe AI systems with rigorous regulatory standards, supplemented by ongoing testing to protect and safeguard patients.
  • Ensuring decision making is patient-centric and transparent in its use of data.

What does this mean for hospital pharmacy?

AI presents a plethora of opportunities for pharmacy professionals in secondary care settings, particularly around two core functions: automation and analysis support. AI tools can be maximised at a systems level, with uses such as streamlining efficiencies, automating operational processes surrounding procurement, stock management and distribution, as well as dispensing processes. It can also provide support in the production of aseptically prepared products.

AI can assist clinicians as a decision-making tool in prescribing, particularly with reference to risk stratification for patients and appropriate treatments or therapies. For example, it can help compare historical patient data from electronic patient records against findings from pharmacists as they review prescriptions to suggest changes in the frequency and use of antibiotics.

What does this mean for pharmacy professionals working in primary care?

Similarly, for pharmacy professionals working in primary care, AI tools facilitate the automation of processes surrounding repeat prescription generation and records access and management. Following this, analysis of patient prescribing data identifies and monitors areas for cost saving prescribing measures, as well as using such historical data to identify opportunities to improve outcomes in long term conditions.

AI - too good to be true?

In celebrating the growing potential and use of AI models and tools in pharmacy practice, however, there is a significant responsibility in terms of regulation and ensuring patient safety remains central.

Research indicates patients are hesitant about the decision-making accuracy of AI interventions. A third of the public think that the main disadvantage of AI is the potential for health care staff to over rely on and not question the outputs of AI findings. While the RPS policy provides key considerations to ensure patient safety and ethical standards are upheld, in real world settings, the design and deployment of AI should work as a support and enhance the human element of care.

Future approaches to AI

AI is undeniably here to stay, with its scale set for exponential growth. However, rather  than AI being perceived as a threat to pharmacy teams, the focus must shift toward fostering a collaborative mindset to harness AI effectively. As Darren Powell, Chair of the RPS Digital Pharmacy Expert Advisory Group explains, “this isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about offering a higher standard of patient care and helping healthcare professionals and patients make more informed decisions”.

Pharmacy practice needs to carefully balance AI tools to empower a technologically literate workforce. To achieve this, support needs to be provided for its implementation to deliver the best possible patient care without sacrificing professional standards or ethical principles. To ensure maximum value, the next steps for the scaling up of AI for pharmacy practice must centre around deeper research, strong leadership, robust governance and sufficient investment in infrastructure.

To continue the discussion, join us at CPC London on 9-10 May to hear about approaches to AI in pharmacy practice.

Loading