Territorial diagnostics close to the citizen and inserted in the digital ecosystem were the themes at the center of the public meeting ‘Evolution and role of the pharmacist in the territory: local healthcare, NPT and Poct’, promoted by the Altis Omnia Pharma Service company and by the magazine ‘Ihpb’ (Italian Health Policy Brief), which dedicated a special publication to the subject. On the occasion, we reflected on the dissemination and management of Near patient testing (NPT) and on Point of care testing (Poct), proximity diagnostic devices that are fully part of the current study on the renewal of local healthcare close to citizen.
The event, hosted today in Rome at the Nobile Pharmaceutical Chemical College, saw the participation of the president of the Federation of Italian Pharmacist Orders (Fofi), Andrea Mandelli, of the director of the Center on Economics and Management in Health and Social Affairs at Liuc Business School, Davide Croce, and the president of the Francesco Cannavò Foundation and vice president of Fofi, Luigi D’Ambrosio Lettieri. Also present in the discussion were Fernanda Gellona, general director of Confindustria medical devices, Maria Vitale, project manager of the civic evaluation agency of Cittadinanzattiva, Simona Barbaglia, president of Respiriamo together, and Lina Delle Monache, representing Fand-Federation national association. diabetics.
“The green crosses of the pharmacies were one of the few signs of hope when every other sign was off during the pandemic – underlined Mandelli – Even after the first pandemic peaks, pharmacies remained for Italian citizens a point of reference in the unthinkable odyssey through the threats and uncertainties of Covid-19: first with swabs, then with vaccines, and finally with antiviral drugs “. Today the pharmacist has a new role, “which is not only of a health nature – specified Mandelli – but also of a social and civil nature. In fact, the official recognition of citizens and institutions has been added to the official nature of some legislative texts that establish new pharmacists functions, partly assumed during the emergency, but for the future even more extensive and of a structural nature. Whether it is additional vaccinations, additional diagnostic tests or the dispensing of new and increasingly complex drugs, Italian pharmacists have shown that be ready for the challenge of offering citizens and patients more and more services “.
In the changing world of healthcare, today’s pharmacists – highlights a note – are already, and will increasingly be, co-responsible for achieving some essential public health objectives, such as increasing vaccination coverage against influenza, but also greater access by citizens to other adult vaccinations, such as those for hepatitis A and B, pneumococcus, cholera, meningococcus, typhoid fever, Papillomavirus and Herpes zoster. And then, as it is written in the decree on the new system of primary care, it is essential that the pharmacist also measure himself on the great issue of prevention with regard to non-communicable diseases.
“As outlined by the NRP”, National Recovery and Resilience Plan, “in the next 5 years the construction of community homes and community hospitals, the increase in services provided in telemedicine and tele-assistance, and the strengthening of home care, they will give life to a healthcare system that is closer to the citizens and more rooted in the territory. And where there is territory and where there is a bet on proximity, there are pharmacists “, assured Mandelli.
“The Italian pharmacy, even in an operational context burdened by economic sustainability problems – said D’Ambrosio Lettieri – has shown high levels of efficiency, operational continuity, reliability and full integration with the mission of the National Health Service, which during the pandemic emergency has confirmed it as the ‘gateway to the health service’, with the provision of services of high social and health value that have integrated the traditional professional activities relating to the dispensing of medicines. in the stimulating area of local healthcare: dematerialized recipe, initiatives to ensure the constant availability of therapeutic oxygen, timely preparation of disinfectant galenic formulations, professionally assisted home delivery, massive issue of Green pass, execution of diagnostic tests for Covid-19, booking of vaccination sessions are just some of the guaranteed services i with competence, continuity and with an appreciated scientific and human counseling activity that has brought comfort and safety to citizens in the many months of fear, anguish and loneliness “.
It is at this level that the new role of diagnostic testing devices emerges, which are not just a commodity – continues the note – but authentic tools for the innovation of health services. The NTP, or the test close to the patient, is defined as “an investigation conducted at the time of consultation, with immediate availability of the results to make immediate and informed decisions on patient care”, recalled Croce. The term Poct instead indicates “those tests that can be performed near the patient or in the place where health care is provided. In general we can say – he specified – that the Poct can also be used by the patient independently, while the Npt have the need the presence of the operator “.
“Today we are aware that our commitment to an effective digitalization of healthcare, even in the local area, will bear fruit only if it can fit into a real digital ecosystem. Proximity healthcare is therefore not just a new password, rather the challenge of a NHS renewed at its roots, capable of bringing with it a new vision of health for all and close to all “, added Mandelli. According to Vitale, the local pharmacist can be an essential key for therapeutic adherence, especially in the context of major chronic conditions such as respiratory, cardiovascular and diabetes diseases. For Barbaglia, it is essential that an alliance between all the actors who can make ‘proximity healthcare’ concrete grows and is consolidated, also in the logic, underlined by Delle Monache, of a clear social-health integration, which is the real point landing of all the innovations allowed by the investments of the NRP.
“The new territorial assistance – Croce observed – is being implemented through the Pnrr funds and will become a reality from the end of 2026. It is hoped for a parallel availability of adequate tools for taking care of chronic patients and for emergencies, with particular reference to the pharmacy of services and their capillarity useful for taking charge of the population. Improving the effectiveness of local health services, expanding them, concentrating them and bringing them closer to the assisted person, is one of the tasks of Mission 6 of the NRP “.