Telepharmacy: A potential alternative approach for diabetic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The use of telepharmacy technology allows pharmacists to provide clinical pharmaceutical services to patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) who need regular services during the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining distance and minimizing face-to-face meetings. The purpose of this review article was to identify the impact of telepharmacy intervention by pharmacists in diabetic patients by reviewing clinical outcomes and patient therapy adherences. A literature search was conducted through the PubMed database using the terms “telemedicine”, “telepharmacy”, “telehealth” and “telephone” in combination with “pharmacist”, ‘diabetes’ and ‘COVID-19ʹ or “Pandemic”. From a total of 67 articles identi-fied, 14 research articles conform to the inclusion criteria. Telephone is the most widely used communication model (n = 11). All studies had a positive impact on clinical outcomes and three studies did not provide significant result on therapy adherence. The use of telepharmacy can be maximized and used on a vast scale, with the design of devices and technologies making it easier for pharmacists and diabetic patients to provide and receive clinical pharmaceutical services during the COVID-19 pandemic.