AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh sits down with clinical pharmacist Ella Shearing, of Locumate, to discuss the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in pharmacy. 

A survey conducted by Shearing at a Sydney hospital found pharmacists were receptive to using the new technology (2 minutes 30), but understanding of AI was mixed (3:26).  

Shearing noted that while AI is already being used by pharmacists and other health practitioners for administrative tasks (7:03), decisions regarding how it is implemented need to take the views of frontline workers into account (16:13). 

“Just because we can adopt AI tools doesn’t mean we should,” Shearing told McMaugh (17:12).  

3:35 – Environmental costs of AI not well understood 

9:25 – Barriers to taking AI into the clinical space 

10:41 – Lack of transparency around AI software fuels hesitancy among some pharmacists 

13:16 – High costs mean AI is unlikely to replace existing drug interaction software 

14:25 – Integrating AI into electronic medical record systems (EMRs) “could be quite useful” 

21:15 – AI could be used to generate medication charts for patients to take home and for providing information about Webster pack changes with patients’ community pharmacies 

22:15 – The best way to learn about AI is to use it 

25:12: Development of guidelines and policies will be key to ensuring the safe and ethical use of AI in healthcare settings 

26:14 – Pharmacists currently using AI are conservative about how they use it.  

You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription.

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