Abstract
In the collaboration between community pharmacies and hospitals or clinics, the use of electronic medicine notebook may allow information sharing, including among out-of-network hospitals, clinics, and community pharmacies. For risk minimization, mobile or smart phones, which patients always carry with them, should be used as a tool allowing drug information to be accessed at any time. An advantage of the electronic conversion of patient drug information is that it allows patients not only to obtain round-the-clock information on drugs, etc. that they are receiving but also to check patient-oriented information selected and made easier to understand by pharmacists. In the collaboration between community pharmacies and hospitals or clinics, if, for example, patient discharge summaries are conveyed to community pharmacies via electronic medicine notebook, patients will feel reassured about the medical alliance and place more trust in pharmacists overall. This can improve patient drug awareness, thus contributing effectively to risk minimization. Drug information in electronic medicine notebook with 24-h access requires not only patients but also pharmacists to be proactive in its use. In addition, a system to facilitate the proactive use of that information needs to be established. For the electronic conversion of patient drug information and the establishment of a system promoting electronic medicine notebook use, the current status and issues need to be thoroughly examined from the viewpoint of risk communication.
