Benefits and Drawbacks of Pharmacy Information Systems
Table of Content
Introduction
Safety Benefits From Pharmacy Information Systems
Medication Dispensing
Medication Reconciliation
Access to the Right Resources
Access to the Right Resources
How is Pharmacy Information Accessed?
Productivity
Improved Provider Efficiency
Reduced Provider Callbacks
Improved Drug Cost Management
Drug Utilization Review (DUR)
Prospective DUR
Concurrent DUR
Retrospective DUR
Drawbacks/Challenges of PIS
System Interoperability
Communication Security
Training and Rapid Evolution of Technology
Technical Malfunctions
Conclusion
Introduction
In recent years we have seen the use of technology dramatically increase and heavily
revolve around our lives. Information technology is a very important aspect of our daily
lives as it is used in various fields such as business and health care. The use of information
technology in health has been adapting over the years and it has become a form of
ensuring quality and adequate care to patients in the health system. The change to
computerizing patient records instead of using paper records has been around for almost 30
years and only in the past decade have we seen a growth in physicians using this form of
recording (Gartee, 2011). A survey done by Accenture a technology outsourcing company
about how technology impacts a person’s everyday life shows that 49% of people agree to
the fact that technology allows them to be more flexible with their schedule so, why would
we not adopt information technology into our pharmacies (Gorman, 2013).
When looking at pharmacy information systems there are key features that make it what it
is and some of these features include: drug management, inpatient medication order entry
& outpatient prescriptions, drug interaction screening, inventory management, medication
reconciliation, integration with packaging and dispensing devices and integration with
other hospital/department information systems (BSharp Technologies, 2013). All these
features must be included in a pharmacy information system in order for pharmacists to
supervise and have a say on how medication is used in the hospital and by patients. With
all these features intact in pharmacy information system it will allow for physicians and
pharmacists to keep an up-to-date medication history of their patient, which would include:
prescribed and dispensed drugs, allergies, ongoing drug treatment and other valuable
information about the patient (Barnett & Jennings, 2009).
A pharmacy information system must adhere to five rights in order to be viewed as having
a positive impact on patients’ health. The right patient must be given the right medication
and dose and the right time and frequency with the right route of administration (Gartee,
2011). When pharmacists and physicians include this system within their facility/hospital
many benefits are obtained. Information systems in a pharmacy setting allow for the usage
of drug utilization review for adequate alerts, improvement of accessibility to patient
information adhering to privacy concerns, better productivity with positive outcomes and
increased safety procedures to decrease errors in the system, but as with every system
drawbacks do hinder the full potential of the pharmacy information system.
Safety Benefits From Pharmacy Information Systems
Pharmacy information systems increase safety for patients who use pharmaceuticals in or
outside of hospital areas and allow us to acknowledge the benefactor role information
systems play in improving system performance. The more tools we design in order to
improve quality of care for patients the more we become aware of the precautions we must
take in order for better safety outcomes. In order to improve safety, pharmacy information
system must be able to reduce the number of medication dispensing errors, allow timely
administration of medications, reconciliation of medication on admission and discharge,
and decrease simple medication errors (B Sharp Technologies, 2013).
Computerized Physician Order Entry
Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) allows physicians to write their orders online
without the hassle of paper work (Bates, 2000). This allows orders to be more structured
meaning that they must include certain criteria in order for the order to be complete such
as dose, route and frequency of specified medication (Bates, 2000). CPOE’s also allow for
the elimination of illegibility or poor fax quality, allowing orders to be read accurately
without questioning (Bates, 2000). The computerized system also allows physicians to
keep in contact with the supplier in case information must be added or altered (Bates,
2000). When we use technology to allow physicians to do order entry problems such as
allergies, drug interactions, overly high doses, drug-laboratory problems, and knowing if
the dose given to the patient is appropriate for their liver and kidney function can be
verified (Bates 2000).
This improves safety on many levels because many errors occur due to pharmacists
misreading medication orders and with this computerized process patients can receive the
right medication without worrying. Structure is also needed to maintain high levels of
safety for patients and pharmacy information systems ensure that everything needed is
entered before moving on to the next step, which guarantees that everyone is following an
assembled process. When we are able to detect problems before setting out the order to the
patient an increase in safety is evident because 55%-83% of errors are eliminated (Bates,
2000).
Medication Dispensing
Pharmacies allocate medications to patients on a daily basis and due to this factor they
must try to eliminate errors since even low error rates can cause a number of problems and
safety issues for patients (Cheung, Bouvy & De Smet, 2009). A dispensing error occurs
when there is a difference in the prescription a patient receives and the actual medicine the
pharmacy distributes (Cheung, Bouvy & De Smet, 2009). When a paper based system is
