Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Digital Transformation in the Pharmaceutical Compounds Supply Chain: Design of a Service Ecosystem with E-Labeling

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Book cover Information Systems (EMCIS 2017)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 299))

Abstract

We propose the design of a digital service ecosystem for the pharmaceutical compounds supply chain. Our method of inquiry is the canonical action research and a retail pharmacy provides the setting. A comprehensive review of existing literature about compounding of medicines is provided and six digital services identified: Supply management, Product traceability, Quality management, Order management, Digital assistant, and Product experience. The new services are supported by dynamic QR code identification and mHealth technologies. Preliminary results suggest that the digital ecosystems offer an opportunity to implement electronic labels (e-labels) in pharmacies, improve medicine information quality, and restore a broken link between medicine customer and medicine producer. Our findings can assist service design and service innovation in pharmaceutical supply chains. Moreover, they can support retail pharmacies in dealing with the increase of medicine compounding, address regulatory pressure for e-labeling, and to take advantage of their proximity to local communities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Taylor, D., Mrazek, M., Mossialos, E.: Regulating pharmaceutical distribution and retail pharmacy in Europe. In: Regulating Pharmaceuticals in Europe: Striving for Efficiency, Equity, and Quality, pp. 196–212 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  2. FDA: Human Drug Compounding. https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/PharmacyCompounding/default.htm. Accessed 16 May 2017

  3. Allen, L.V.: Contemporary pharmaceutical compounding. Ann. Pharmacother. 37, 1526–1528 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Goundrey-Smith, S.: Pharmacy Management Systems. In: Goundrey-Smith, S. (ed.) Information Technology in Pharmacy, pp. 151–173. Springer, London (2013). doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-2780-2_6

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  5. Nanji, K.C., Cina, J., Patel, N., Churchill, W., Gandhi, T.K., Poon, E.G.: Overcoming barriers to the implementation of a pharmacy bar code scanning system for medication dispensing: a case study. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 16, 645–650 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Batenburg, R., Van Den Broek, E.: Pharmacy information systems: the experience and user satisfaction within a chain of Dutch pharmacies. Int. J. Electron. Healthc. 4, 119–131 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hines, L.E., Saverno, K.R., Warholak, T.L., Taylor, A., Grizzle, A.J., Murphy, J.E., Malone, D.C.: Pharmacists’ awareness of clinical decision support in pharmacy information systems: an exploratory evaluation. Res. Soc. Adm. Pharm. 7, 359–368 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. El Mahalli, A., El-Khafif, S.H., Yamani, W.: Assessment of pharmacy information system performance in three hospitals in eastern province. Saudi Arabia. Perspect. Heal. Inf. Manag. 13, 1b (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Khlie, K., Abouabdellah, A.: A study on the performance of the pharmacy information system within the Moroccan hospital sector. In: 3rd International Conference on Logistics Operations Management (GOL). pp. 1–7. IEEE (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Mahoney, C.D., Berard-Collins, C.M., Coleman, R., Amaral, J.F., Cotter, C.M.: Effects of an integrated clinical information system on medication safety in a multi-hospital setting. Am. J. Heal. Pharm. 64, 1969–1977 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lapao, L.V., da Silva, M.M., Gregorio, J.: Implementing an online pharmaceutical service using design science research. BMC Med. Inform. Decis. Mak. 17, 1–14 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Weill, P., Woerner, S.L.: Thriving in an increasingly digital ecosystem. MIT Sloan Manag. Rev. 56, 27–34 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Barrett, M., Davidson, E., Prabhu, J., Vargo, S.L.: Service innovation in the digital age: key contributions and future directions. MIS Q. 39, 135–154 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Goldstein, S., Johnston, R., Duffy, J., Rao, J.: The service concept: the missing link in service design research? J. Oper. Manag. 20, 121–134 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Immonen, A., Ovaska, E., Kalaoja, J., Pakkala, D.: A service requirements engineering method for a digital service ecosystem. Serv. Oriented Comput. Appl. 10, 151–172 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Paul, R.J.: Challenges to information systems: time to change. Eur. J. Inf. Syst. 16, 193–195 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Susman, G.I., Evered, R.D.: An assessment of the scientific merits of action research. Adm. Sci. Q. 23, 582–603 (1978)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Gulfo, J.: Pharmaceutical Compounding: The FDA Is Not The Problem. https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/08/29/pharmaceutical-compounding-the-fda-is-not-the-problem/#1ed3715978df. Accessed 16 May 2017

  19. Portuguese Ministry of Health: Ordinance 594/2004, 2nd July - Portuguese Law. Diário da República, 1.a série-B. 129, 3441–3445 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Council of Europe: European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) 9th Edition. https://www.edqm.eu/en/european-pharmacopoeia-9th-edition. Accessed 16 May 2017

  21. Fontaine, A.L.: Current requirements and emerging trends for labelling as a tool for communicating pharmacovigilance findings. Drug Saf. 27, 579–589 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Nahler, G.: Company core data sheet CCDS. In: Nahler, G. (ed.) Dictionary of Pharmaceutical Medicine, p. 33. Springer, Vienna (2009)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  23. European Commision: A Guideline on Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  24. HL7: Structured Product Labeling (SPL) Implementation Guide with Validation Procedures (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Winterstein, A.G., Linden, S., Lee, A.E., Fernandez, E.M., Kimberlin, C.L.: Evaluation of consumer medication information dispensed in retail pharmacies. Arch. Intern. Med. 170, 1317–1324 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Songara, R.K., Sharma, G.N., Gupta, V.K., Gupta, P.: Need for harmonization of labeling of medical devices: a review. J. Adv. Pharm. Technol. Res. 1, 127–144 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Fei, J., Liu, R.: Drug-laden 3D biodegradable label using QR code for anti-counterfeiting of drugs. Mater. Sci. Eng., C 63, 657–662 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Martin, I.G.: Electronic labeling: a paperless future? Drug Inf. J. 32, 917–919 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. CMDh: CMDh position paper on the use of QRD codes to provide information about the medicinal product 59, 1–5 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  30. AEMPS: Utilización de códigos quick response (QR) para proporcionar información sobre los medicamentos. Agencia española Medicam, 1–4 November 2015

    Google Scholar 

  31. Kierkegaard, P.: E-prescription across Europe. Health Technol. (Berl) 3, 205–219 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Mira, J.J., Guilabert, M., Carrillo, I., Fernández, C., Vicente, M.A., Orozco-Beltrán, D., Gil-Guillen, V.F.: Use of QR and EAN-13 codes by older patients taking multiple medications for a safer use of medication. Int. J. Med. Inform. 84, 406–412 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Tseng, M.H., Wu, H.C.: A cloud medication safety support system using QR code and Web services for elderly outpatients. Technol. Heal. Care. 22, 99–113 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Lockwood, W.: QR codes: a digital avenue for PMI. Comput. Pharm. 33, 12–15 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Furner, C.P., Racherla, P., Babb, J.S.: What we know and do not know about mobile app usage and stickiness: a research agenda. Int. J. E-Serv. Mob. Appl. 7, 48–69 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Duke, J., Friedlin, J., Li, X.: Consistency in the safety labeling of bioequivalent medications. Pharmacoepidemiol. Drug Saf. 22, 294–301 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Duke, J., Friedlin, J., Ryan, P.: A quantitative analysis of adverse events and “Overwarning” in drug labeling. Arch. Intern. Med. 171, 944–946 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Davison, R., Martinsons, M.G., Kock, N.: Principles of canonical action research. Inf. Syst. J. 14, 65–86 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Chiasson, M., Germonprez, M., Mathiassen, L.: Pluralist action research: a review of the information systems literature. Inf. Syst. J. 19, 31–54 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Baskerville, R.: information systems with action research: Investigating information systems with action research. Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 2, 1–32 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Davison, R.M., Martinsons, M.G.: Context is king! Considering particularism in research design and reporting. J. Inf. Technol. 31, 241–249 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Lindgren, R., Henfridsson, O., Schultze, U.: Design principles for competence management systems: a synthesis of an action research study. MIS Q. 28, 435–472 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Andersen, P., Ross, J.W.: Transforming the LEGO group for the digital economy. In: ICIS 2016 Proceedings, Dublin, Ireland (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Baskerville, R.: Design Theorizing Individual Information Systems. Proceedings of the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS). pp. 1–12 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Malaurent, J., Avison, D.: Reconciling global and local needs: a canonical action research project to deal with workarounds. Inf. Syst. J. 26, 227–257 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. European Commission: Green Paper on mobile Health (“mHealth”) (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  47. European Commission: Regulation (EU) 207/2012 on electronic instructions for use of medical devices (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  48. French, J.R.P.: Field experiments: changing group productivity. In: Miller, J.G. (ed.) Experiments in Social Process: A Symposium on Social Psychology, pp. 81–96. McGraw-Hill (1950)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work has been partially funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Centro 2020 Regional Operational Programme, Portugal 2020.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISMT, Miguel Torga Institute, Coimbra, Portugal

    Alexandra Ângelo, João Barata & Vasco Almeida

  2. Department of Informatics Engineering, CISUC, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    João Barata & Paulo Rupino da Cunha

Authors
  1. Alexandra Ângelo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. João Barata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Paulo Rupino da Cunha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Vasco Almeida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandra Ângelo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Digital Systems, University of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece

    Marinos Themistocleous

  2. Department of Management and Technology, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

    Vincenzo Morabito

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Cite this paper

Ângelo, A., Barata, J., da Cunha, P.R., Almeida, V. (2017). Digital Transformation in the Pharmaceutical Compounds Supply Chain: Design of a Service Ecosystem with E-Labeling. In: Themistocleous, M., Morabito, V. (eds) Information Systems. EMCIS 2017. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 299. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65930-5_26

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65930-5_26

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-65929-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-65930-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation