Putting dispensing practices at the forefront of change in Primary care
The PAMAN System and Service
A remote monitoring, medication administration and management support service, that is internet based and uses an audio- video hub device called a Medihub, to observe service users or patients taking their medication
It is PAMAN monitoring team is made up of pharmacists and registered pharmacy technicians using UpToDate medication information provided by community pharmacies in the form of a medication administration record chart
The service users / patient are assigned contact times which coincide with their medicine administration times and are agreed when the PAMAN system is implemented
The implementation of the PAMAN system, includes the installation of the Medihub and 4G WIFI dongle( to provide access to the internet) and a medication overview(this is not a review of the suitability of the medicines prescribed) but a review of the way the medicines are stored, and taken by the service user/patient
Any medication issues uncovered any the overview are discussed with the supplying pharmacy and if required the GP surgery and changes made
The administration of the service user’s/patient’s medicines is observed by the PAMAN monitors and recorded on an interactive MAR chart
The PAMAN service has particular benefit for diabetic patients who self-medicate and who should be recording their blood sugar levels with a glucometer during the day
COPD and asthma sufferers also benefit significantly from the assessment of the usage of inhalers and devices by the PAMAN monitors who provide training to those who need it
The PAMAN system and service was developed for Liverpool City council for whom the monitoring of medicines administration, undertaken by home carers. was unsustainably expensive as well as being prone to errors
After a successful 8month pilot programme as part of the Wave 2 Testbed Health and Care Pilot Programme, a report prepared by Liverpool e-Health Cluster showed that the PAMAN service made “cash-in-the-bank” savings of £200,000 per 100 service users/patients on an annualised basis
It also showed that notional savings (reduced hospital admissions and reduction in bed days) added further savings of over £200,000 per 100 service users/patients
The report showed a substantial improvement in quality of life, reduction in medicine wastage, reduction in hospital admissions and bed days as well as a substantial increase in medicine adherence from the national average of 55% to over 97%
Improved medicine adherence leads to improved health outcomes and reduced wastage
The PAMAN system demonstrated that when implemented and delivered as a service, it improved safety, reduced errors , improved quality of life, reduced monitoring costs and created not only a short but medium and long term sustainable service which brought together both health and care services to create an integrated regional service
Get in touch to find out more contact@dispensingdoctorexperts.co.uk
