Administrative Services

Objectives

• Understand the viability of serving patients online
• Understand the difficulties with creating online scheduling and other services
• Understand the problems associated with online prescriptions

Readings

Weisbord, Steven D.. Soule, Jeremy B.. Kimmel, Paul L.. Brief Report: Poison on Line -- Acute Renal Failure Caused by Oil of Wormwood Purchased through the Internet. New England Journal of Medicine. 337(12):825-827, September 18, 1997  Accession Number: 00006024-199709180-00005

McDonald CJ, Overhage JM, Dexter PR, et al. Canopy computing: using the Web in clinical practice. JAMA 1998;280:1325-9.  Accession Number: 00005407-199810210-00027

Whitwham, Brian. Dispute over Canada's online pharmacies heating up. CMAJ Canadian Medical Association Journal. 168(6):759, March 18, 2003.   Accession Number: 00002792-200303180-00048

Grahame-Smith, D. G. CBE. The demedicalization of prescribing: THE ADRIAN SALTER LECTURE 2002. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Medicine. 16(6):233-238, December 2002.   Accession Number: 00124363-200212000-00002

Reidenberg, Marcus M. MD. Conner, Bradley A. MD. Counterfeit and substandard drugs. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 69(4):189-193, April 2001.   Accession Number: 00003098-200104000-00001

Armstrong, Katrina; Schwartz, J. Sanford; Asch, David A.  Direct Sale of Sildenafil (Viagra) to Consumers over the Internet.  The New England Journal of Medicine Volume 341(18) 28 October 1999 pp 1389-1392 .  Accession Number: 00006024-199910280-00010

Skolnick AA. WHO considers regulating ads, sale of medical products on Internet. JAMA 1997;278:1723-4.  Accession Number: 00005407-199712030-00006

Presentations

The following additional resources are available to help you think through this lecture:

• Listen to Harold Erdman, Ph.D. talking about  Kaiser Permanente's services to members in 2000.  If you are using Firefox, use the SWF file.
• Take a tour of  Kaiser Permanente's site 
• Slides on de-medicalization of prescribing

Narrated slides require use of Flash.

What Do You Know?

Advanced learners like you, often need different ways of understanding a topic. Reading is just one way of understanding. Another way is through writing.  The following questions are designed to get you to think more about the concepts taught in this session.

1. Summarize the articles (not your views) regarding the benefits and costs associated with online pharmacies and pharmaceutical advertisements.
    

   Contact Information

   Enter your first name: 

   Enter your last name: 

   Please send this information to your instructor.

   Always remember that one indication of your participation in the class is your active formulation of questions about the lecture topic.  Your questions help your instructor gauge your understanding of the topic.  In addition, they help you get more information.  The answers to your questions are posted on the web, in the lecture in which you asked the question, under the section titled:  Recently Asked Questions.

Learn one, Teach one

Prepare two presentations one for and one against allowing direct advertisements by pharmaceutical companies.

• To prepare a presentation for supporting direct to consumer advertisement, see Barbara Mintzes For and against: Direct to consumer advertising is medicalising normal human experience: For BMJ, Apr 2002; 324: 908 - 909.  
• To prepare a presentation criticizing direct to consumer advertising, see Ray Moynihan, Iona Heath, David Henry, and Peter C Gøtzsche.  Selling sickness: the pharmaceutical industry and disease mongering • Commentary: Medicalisation of risk factors BMJ, Apr 2002; 324: 886 - 891.

More

• The Clinical Context Object Workgroup is developing standards for identifying the user and the patient across many independent programs
• The Kaiser Permanente's electronic health record. 

This page was created by Farrokh Alemi, Ph.D.  Last revised on 10/22/2011.  This page is part of the course on Electronic Commerce and Online Market for Health Services.  This is the session on Administrative Services.