Prescriptions for drugs are among the most complicated elements of healthcare delivery, essential to the treatment process and require substantial resources to ensure the safety of patients. Electronic prescribing is a prescription system that can help enhance and control the process of prescribing. This article will discuss the technology behind E-prescribing it's benefits and the procedure of integration in an existing health care IT system.
Electronic prescribing (E-prescribing) is a new technological framework and information system that allows health professionals to write digitally, alter prescriptions and distribute them to pharmacies and patients. The electronic prescribing system functions as a highly efficient tool for communication and reference rather than traditional methods that are less effective like handwritten notes, phone calls, or fax which take longer time and resources.
This IT system allows doctors to look over patient records as well as interact with pharmacies in order to find out the availability of medicines and also set limits on refills. Additionally, advanced E-prescribing systems can provide artificial intelligence, by alerting clinicians of possible allergic reactions or drug incompatibility, and having access to generic substitutes (Fuchs, Lo, Peterman, Camp, & Chase in 2016). In all, it is an extremely efficient method which offers a broad range of functions that are designed to improve the prescription process for drugs and prevent potential mistakes or misuse.
As we have mentioned earlier the electronic prescription system was not just designed to improve efficiency but also to improve patient's safety and quality. The digitalization of prescriptions drastically reduces the risk of errors by humans in the transmission of data. Certain aspects like indiscernible prescription names, dosages that are incorrect duplicate therapy and misinterpretation of writing prescriptions in hand are gone.
Additionally, the system assists to control the abuse of drugs by setting limits on refills as well as the interval between refills. Because information is shared between pharmacies, it is more difficult to misuse. The possibility of illegal manipulation of prescriptions is minimized also. Electronic prescriptions also offer clinical support for physicians by sending alerts for any known drug allergies or interactions. This can be crucial to the safety and health of patients suffering from serious conditions including children, pregnant women, or other medical conditions. In addition, the system gives the benefits of adherence to medication since it can be used to track whether prescriptions were fulfilled and avoids human errors like forgetfulness or even losing the prescription paper. Use of controlled substances can be managed better with the help of the system (Zadeh and Tremblay, 2016).
The large-scale changes to health informatics, and the subsequent processes that follow, are typically met with significant resistance, as is evident at the beginning of the implementation of EHR in the context of ARRA. There are many reasons that can cause the resistance to innovation in informatics. Many fear it could affect their jobs since more and more areas of healthcare are automated or digitalized, and that the company will have to undergo structural changes in order to incorporate new technologies.
The introduction of cutting-edge technology in an organization can result in modifications in the layout of devices that use electronic technology, communications between employees, and changes in the healthcare delivery procedure.
Staff are left to face such dramatic changes. Many aren't confident about new technologies or even willing to change the methods and frames of reference used over years of education. Some, like doctors and administrators, believe that the use of informatics systems impedes their practice autonomy and control. Certain medical professions have high autonomy requirements and regard changes in their organization as negative, especially in the event that it has an impact on independently prioritized work (Barrett 2017, 2017).
The most effective way to overcome the resistance of IT innovation is effective human management that is, with a particular focus on effective communication and the appropriate execution strategies. The process should start with a thorough assessment of the ability of an organization to adapt because each differs depending on the culture of its employees and. Effective tools for communication such as meetings and regular emails to employees, top-down team communication, a project's website and many others could be employed. The leaders of an organization should utilize the existing channels of communication in the process because technological change requires time to implement.
In order to recognize organizational capabilities, the inherent motivations for change and the benefits of change in addition to employees' attitudes and needs as well as team managers and nursing managers can come together to devise strategies that aid employees in the process of transition. Any issues in terms of human or technological must be taken into consideration at every stage of the transition needs assistance in terms of technical and operational to assist in the process of planning and execution. Implementation can be improved by performing an in-depth study of the workflow process to minimize disruptions and avoid possible risks. In addition, regular feedback from the team members as well as employees and patients will greatly assist in improving the process as well as helping to ensure that the transition is more smooth and thereby reducing resistance (Al-Haddad and Kotnour in 2015).
The measurement of the impact of E-prescribing changes can be determined on two major categories of indicators: acceptance and outcomes. Adoption refers to how often and properly the system is utilized by health professionals and administrators and regular patients in the event that some of the services are available to the latter. Some aspects that must be taken into consideration in determining the appropriateness of adoption are the amount of time needed to establish and the percentage of prescriptions that are electronically submitted satisfaction, and the savings both in time as well as in terms of financial (Parv, Kruus, Motte, & Ross 2014).
The quality indicator must be considered within the context of healthcare for the patient, including the efficacy and accuracy in the process (lack of mistakes) as well as the frequency of adverse drug interactions for patients who receive medication through prescriptions that are electronically delivered, as well as those that don't, as well as other health risks associated with drugs (Gabriel, Powers, Encinosa, & Bynum, 2017).
In the end, E-prescribing technology offers huge potential for healthcare delivery. It is crucial to overcome the obstacles in implementation and technology compatibility, as well as the staff's acceptance of the system within the routine workflow. It could have huge benefits for health and safety of patients.
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