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Saturday, 20 October 2012

The Advantages Of Using An Electronic Prescribing System For Providing Medication

By Roberte Z. Smallwide


A program for electronic prescribing has made it easier to prescribe medications to individuals and reduce the amount of errors when doing so. Because doctor offices and pharmacies can get medications to patients in a much shorter amount of time, these systems are becoming more and more popular. The system has three primary components which allow it to operate efficiently and with a minimal amount of errors. The system is made up of the doctor that prescribes the medication, the transaction hub, and the pharmacy where the medication is dispensed.

The doctor will make a recommendation for medicine after performing an examination on the patient, and as the prescriber they will enter this medication into the system. Once the doctor has examined the patient they will also review the medical file before acting as the prescriber and deciding on a medication that is safe for them to take. The prescriber will use the electronic prescribing program to search for the patient's medical history by using their name, address, date of birth, and other personal information. After the doctor has located the file and confirmed that it is the correct one, they can update this record to include the new medication.

The prescription is going to then go through the transaction hub once the prescriber has typed in all of the necessary information. The medical records for that individual are then verified against all other records for that patient in the main user index. If there are any contraindications that could hurt the individual then these errors will be identified here. It is up to the doctor to then evaluate this information and send the final authorization for the prescription.

The last place that the prescription is sent after the transaction hub is to the pharmacy where it can be filled. Once the prescription is received, the pharmacy can communicate back and forth with the prescriber if there are any questions or to give a confirmation that it was received. The final person to look for drug interactions and make sure that it is safe is the pharmacist. If they discover any mistakes then they can contact the prescriber for a different prescription.

Due to the effectiveness of the electronic prescribing system, many agencies are pushing for electronic health record systems in health care offices. Medical practices will have to be equipped with computer terminals that can communicate with each other in order for this kind of prescription system to work. Without the need for hand written prescriptions, there are less errors and patient care improves all round.

Medical practices can save time and focus on the care of the patient more with the electronic prescribing program which is why many offices are currently used them. Because doctors and pharmacists can communicate in a quick and simple manner, patients are able to obtain their medicines more quickly. The steps from prescriber, transaction hub, and pharmacist make sure that there are fewer errors in prescriptions and that patients are receiving the best possible care.




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