With great thanks to Chris and Marie Stark who have asked me to publish on the blog.This is great and exciting news.
Would love someone to demonstrate one of these at GTT meetings.
If anyone else has obtained one, we’d love to hear about it.
“New Service to Access Information on Prescription Medication Labels
Dispensed by Shoppers Drug Mart in Ontario
Reading or understanding the contents and instructions of labels on
prescription medications is a source of problems and frustration for many
people, particularly for persons who are blind and others who have
difficulty reading print material. The small print and look-alike packaging
of medicine vials can lead to confusion, non-compliance, and mistakes. A
solution to this serious issue, the ScripTalk Station prescription reading
device, developed by EnVision America, is now available at Shoppers Drug
Marts in Ontario.
The ScripTalk works by simply pressing a button on the device and placing
the special talking label over the reader, which then speaks all the
information printed on the label including drug name, dosage & instructions;
warnings and contraindications; pharmacy information; doctor name;
prescription number and date; warnings etc. More information on the
ScripTalk technology can be found at
<https://www.envisionamerica.com/products/scripability/scriptalk/> ScripTalk
| En-Vision America – Assistive Technology for the Blind and Low-vision
Community. You can also view an
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLSkkFXDWV0> overview video of the
ScripTalk for Pharmacies on YouTube and an
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLRe0Z6wnzk> overview video of the
ScripTalk system for customers on YouTube.
The first step to obtain a ScripTalk prescription reader is to contact your
Shoppers Drug Mart owner/pharmacist who is responsible for initiating the
process. Information on the ScripTalk was sent, a while ago, to all
Shoppers Drug Mart stores in Ontario. Customers who are blind should
discuss their needs with their pharmacist, who can then contact their field
support teams with any inquiries regarding available options.
Once you have decided to get the ScripTalk reader, you will be asked to sign
a program registration document required by EnVision America, who will then
send a reader directly to you. There is no cost to the customer who is
blind.
There is, at present, a 48 hour lag time between requesting a medication at
your pharmacy, and the pharmacist sending the information to Shoppers Drug
Mart Head Office who then prepare the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
lables required by the ScripTalk device. New prescriptions requiring
immediate use will be a problem for the customers initially. Hopefully, this
lag time issue will soon be resolved, so that customers can access their
prescription information at the same time as the print ones are dispensed.
For medications that are being refilled on a regular basis, it is a matter
of planning for this lag time when renewing your supply.
I have received my free ScripTalk prescription reader. It is very easy to
use. An instruction CD is included to help with set up and operation. The
ScripTalk labels are on each one of my medications, which enables me to read
all the pertinent information for all my medications, for the first time.
If your Shoppers Drug Mart Store is totally unwilling or unresponsive to
your drug prescription information needs, tell them to contact Ashesh Desai,
who is the senior manager responsible for this service. If that does not
work, then contact him directly at the coordinates below. He was very
helpful to me.
Ashesh Desai Bsc. Phm |
Senior Vice-President, Pharmacy Operations and Transformation |
Shoppers Drug Mart HQ
243 Consumers Road, Toronto ON M2J 4W8
Tel. 416-490-2769
Toll free: 1800-746-7737 Open until 8:00 PM and ask for him.
Email: adesai@shoppersdrugmart.ca <mailto:adesai@shoppersdrugmart.ca>
At present, there is no link for information regarding the ScripTalk on the
Shoppers Drug Mart website. However, Shoppers Drug Mart’s Accessible
Customer Service Practice document for Ontario can be accessed at:
<http://files.shoppersdrugmart.ca/stores/Accessibility-Standards.pdf>
http://files.shoppersdrugmart.ca/stores/Accessibility-Standards.pdf
The ScripTalk Mobile app is also available in the Google Play Store. It
provides another way to read the ScripTalk labels prescription information
on some, but not all, Android devices. ScripTalk is not available at present
for iPhones and other Apple devices, because Apple does not allow the use of
Near Field Communication (NFC), which is required in order to read the RFID
labels being affixed on medication containers for the ScripTalk.
I would like to thank Rob Sleath and Access for Sight-Impaired Consumers
(ASIC) for all their work on this issue in B.C. and for their help and
advice to me as I worked with my local Shoppers Drug Mart. More information
on ASIC and other drug store chains in B.C. offering the ScripTalk is
available at <http://www.asicbc.ca> http://www.asicbc.ca .”
GTT Program blog and resources 