Pharmacy consulting firm launches 'telepharmacy' services

A four-year-old Spokane company that helps hospitals, pharmacies, and long-term care facilities meet state and federal pharmacy regulations and improve pharmacy procedures has now begun offering what's called "telepharmacy" services to rural hospitals that can't afford to have their own pharmacists on staff.

The company, Medication Review Inc., received approval from the Washington state Board of Pharmacy on July 30 to provide to hospitals automated dispensing of medications and off-site supervision of hospital pharmacy technicians, says K. Douglas Crafton, the company's president and owner.

Crafton says Medication Review already has signed contracts to provide those services to four rural hospitals around the state and adds that he expects the company to be providing telepharmacy services to as many as 15 hospitals within the next 12 months.

Currently, the company employs six licensed pharmacists, and it plans to hire up to three more pharmacists in the next year as that new business segment grows, he says.