Medication Kiosk - PharmaTrust

Kiosk-based medicine has suddenly taken a new step with the next wave in direct to consumer marketing that is sweeping the medical industry.  Witness the drug store pharmacy in a box .  Similar to a visit to an ATM, following a few keystrokes and insertion of cash or credit card one can have antibiotics, muscle relaxers, or  the latest treatment advertised on prime time.   Detractors will fear an increase in the appearance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, use of morning-after pills, or simply an increased dependence on medication.

Pharmacies on every corner will lower the barrier to having to schedule a doctor’s office visit in order to gain access to a prescription.  Physicians, possibly incentivized to use this approach to prescribing, may see this as an opportunity to dispense medications to many more patients each day.  Proponents indicate that pharmacy kiosks will deal with the major challenge with improving the effectiveness of modern medicine; patient compliance.  The pharmacy kiosk is linked via real time telemedicine conferencing to enable efficient access to accredited professional advice, and perhaps online video educational snippets. In either case, pharmacy kiosks provide a major step forward in reducing the cost (both tangible and intangible) of getting the right drug to the right patient in a timely manner.  When pharmacy kiosks are mated with diagnostic kiosks the progeny will truly be the clinic without walls.

SEE Presentation by Peter Suma, PharmaTrust, Co-Founder, and Chief Operating Officer  from Medical Automation Conference 2009

Image Credit:  PharmaTrust