Integrating AI into pharmacy practice is a game of challenges and opportunities. Niamh Cahill reports
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the Irish healthcare service is piecemeal. But there is little doubt that in the future, AI will play an increasingly significant role within the pharmaceutical healthcare sphere.
Challenges and opportunities abound in equal measure when it comes to AI tools, which are in constant development, enhancing their potential to help reduce administrative burdens in pharmacy while improving patient care.
However, the implementation of AI within pharmacy is to date limited, not least because national strategies and policies to guide the use of AI within healthcare are still in development. But when published, it is hoped they will help clinicians in their understanding of how to use AI in an ethical and responsible way that benefits patients.
Guidance in this area will be important, because a skills shortage around AI exists within the profession — it has not formed part of traditional university and college courses and is an ever-evolving and changing space.
Educational institutions, however, are beginning to offer courses on AI and healthcare, including Trinity College Dublin, to help educate clinicians.
Pharmacists and, indeed, all healthcare professionals must adapt to using AI in the future, particularly generative AI, which can create content based on data that it was trained on. But in order to use AI, healthcare professionals must first learn what AI actually is — and in what parts of the profession it can be put to best use.
Administration
According to Kerry-based pharmacist Jack Shanahan, one place where AI could be of huge benefit is administration. AI systems in this area can reduce paperwork, giving pharmacists more time to focus on patient care, for example.
Mr Shanahan also highlighted how, from a retail and business perspective, for example, AI could also be used to create more targeted customer advertisements.
And in the area of research and drug development, AI is already helping to make drug production more efficient. It can also assist with analysing prescriptions, medication suitability, and drug-patient interactions. “AI is powering ahead in investigating new molecules. That whole area of new medicines and new ways of working will continue,” Mr Shanahan said.
Questions remain, however, he said, around how AI will help pharmacy on a professional level. AI is still very much “the great unknown” he stated. It has been said that AI will transform pharmacy in the future, but according to Mr Shanahan, AI is currently used “for personal usage mostly and is not used massively in [pharmacy] business yet”.
Challenges and risks on a number of fronts abound when it comes to AI, Mr Shanahan added, such as ethical and legal responsibilities, data security, and transparency and fairness, to name but a few.
He highlighted how some GPs are using AI to record patient consultations and generate patient diagnoses, a system which, he suggested, could also be applied in pharmacy during patient consultations. “But a lot of questions remain here around GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and privacy and ensuring any stored information is not used inappropriately,” he warned.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health told Irish Pharmacist (IP) that it is focused on “setting the national strategy, policy, and legislative framework for safe and effective AI adoption across health and social care.
“The AI for Care Strategy — aligned with the EU AI Act and the National AI Strategy — is nearing completion and will be published in 2025. To support this work, HIQA [the Health Information and Quality Authority] is developing guidance to ensure AI is used responsibly and transparently across the sector and a public consultation exercise to inform this guidance is planned for Quarter 1, 2026,” the spokesperson added.
The strategy will provide a roadmap for “safe, responsible, and effective AI adoption across health and social care” services, the spokesperson added, and will set out principles for the use of AI in healthcare.
Innovation
Current activity for AI in pharmacy services is limited to exploratory academic work — highlighting an opportunity for innovation, the spokesperson stated. “The Government supports responsible AI use across all healthcare settings, including pharmacy. AI supports clinicians — it does not replace them. Clinicians remain the ultimate decision-makers and transparency and patient consent are non-negotiable principles.
“To encourage innovation, the Sláintecare Integration Innovation Fund provides seed funding for suitable AI projects. We welcome further input from stakeholders to shape this strategy and ensure AI delivers real benefits for patients and clinicians.”
AI within healthcare will also help to improve diagnostics, support clinical decision-making, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance the overall patient experience, the spokesperson added.
Chief Pharmacist at the Mater Private Hospital Cork, Fergus Nugent, said that AI is part of the future integration of IT into healthcare within the Mater Private Network. The hospital uses an electronic health record known as PERL, but there is no AI within this system at present.
Mr Nugent told IP that from a whole hospital perspective, there are many ways AI can benefit patients. “For example, AI programmes in our endoscopy department could be used to highlight cancerous or pre-cancerous polyps to the endoscopist rather than just the naked eye. Radiology is another area where AI will be extensively used,” he said.
“On challenges to using AI, the biggest issue will be finding a middle ground on risk to patient safety when introducing AI systems. We know AI can be rolled out to your own phone easily enough with little testing and we know that a lot of the data it pulls from the Internet can be incorrect or not interpreted correctly to the question posed. However, the AI model learns from previous mistakes, from data manually fed to it — and as time passes will get better.
“In healthcare or, for example, the airline industry, you can’t just introduce
a half-baked product to the market and let it learn. There would be too many patient/passenger safety issues, so the volume of testing for the examples above in radiology or endoscopy would be enormous to have a trustworthy and validated product. It’s not insurmountable, it will just take time.
“From a pharmacy point of view, prescribing using AI will be similar to above; it will need a massive body of testing and validation before it becomes the norm. On the clinical pharmacy end, similar problems will be faced. Again, it will just take time.”
Support tool
A spokesperson for the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) said that AI has a valuable role to play as a support tool to help pharmacists meet patient needs and improve healthcare delivery. “Used responsibly, it can automate administrative tasks, improve communication, and support clinical decision-making.
“However, AI must always complement — not replace — pharmacists’ professional expertise and oversight. Our view aligns with the PGEU [Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union] position: ‘Technology should enhance pharmaceutical care and patient services, never substitute them.’
“AI can help create more time for pharmacists to focus on patients by streamlining repetitive tasks and supporting clinical decisions,” added the IPU spokesperson. It can improve safety by identifying interactions or dosing issues, predict supply shortages, and support public health initiatives. Most importantly, it should strengthen, not replace, the trusted pharmacist-patient relationship.”
The IPU spokesperson said that the main challenge to using AI here is the absence of a clear national framework for evaluating and governing AI in healthcare. “The new Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence is beginning to address this, which is welcome. Pharmacies also face barriers around interoperability, investment, and skills development. What is needed is a coherent and professionally-governed approach that ensures AI supports safe, effective, and patient-centered care.”
The spokesperson advised that Ireland is at an early stage when it comes to AI development in pharmacy when compared to other countries, such as Denmark or the Netherlands, where strong digital foundations already exist.
Indeed, an electronic patient record within public hospitals here remains in development.
“Our priority now should be building those foundations — implementing shared care records, health identifiers, and interoperable systems — so that future AI developments are secure, ethical, and aligned with patient care,” the spokesperson said.
“AI in pharmacy will likely be supported through national programmes such as Sláintecare and Digital for Care 2030, alongside EU innovation and digital health funding. Vendor and private investment will also play a role, but all funding should ultimately serve one purpose — enhancing pharmaceutical care and improving patient outcomes.”
Regulation
A spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) said it has not published a specific position on the use of AI in pharmacy. “As regulator, we are alive to the fast-paced evolution of AI, and digital innovation, and the potential benefits and challenges for healthcare and pharmacy. We are aware that the Department of Health and the HSE have recently commenced the development of a strategy for AI in health. The PSI is currently actively contributing, as relevant to our regulatory remit, in the rollout of digital health initiatives in Ireland, as outlined in Digital for Care: A Digital Health Framework for Ireland 2024-2030.
“As with all aspects of their work, pharmacists must always act in accordance with their Code of Conduct, and observe relevant legislation, practice standards, and guidance, whilst applying their professional judgement and clinical expertise in order to make ethical decisions,” added the PSI spokesperson.
A spokesperson for HIQA said the authority had adopted an “evidence- based and collaborative approach to develop the draft National Guidance for the Responsible and Safe Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health and Social Care, undertaking research and conducting stakeholder engagement throughout the process”.
HIQA plans to launch a six-week public consultation process on the draft National Guidance in early 2026. “The National Guidance aims to support services to promote and drive a responsible and safe approach to the use of AI in the health and social care sector in Ireland. This guidance will be used to promote awareness and build good practice among service providers and staff about the responsible and safe use of AI in their services.
“The guidance will also be of use to people using services by educating and empowering them on what their expectations should be in respect of how AI can be used safely and responsibly while engaging with health and social care services,” the spokesperson concluded.
