NPS raises software issues
April 27, 2010
THE National Prescribing Service
has identified several key
prescribing software issues that
have the potential to play an
important role in patient safety.
NPS has published a recent study
designed to identify features of the
e-prescribing system that support
patient safety and quality of care,
as a guide to vendors, which builds
on past NPS research and discusses
the importance of the inclusion of
appropriate features in electronic
prescribing software including the
implementation of a series of
standards or guidelines.
“Most GPs in Australia use electronic
prescribing software however there
are no standards or guidelines for
features of these systems,” said
NPS ceo, Dr Lynn Weekes.
“This makes it difficult for
vendors to know what should be
included and can have a big
impact on the safe and effective
use of medicines,” Weekes added.
As part of the study, a review
panel, which included members
from the Australian Commission on
Safety and Quality in Health Care ,
the Medical Software Industry
Association, RACGP, software
vendors and a number of
prescribers and consumers, looked
at four areas of 114 e-prescribing
software features including ‘patient
safety’, ‘quality of care’,
‘usefulness to the clinician’ and
‘usefulness to the patient’.
The results of the study found
that 68% of the features were likely
to have a high impact and 38%
were likely to have a medium
impact on at least one of the four
areas, whilst 27 features had a
high impact across three or more
areas including patient safety and
patient care.
“The key features identified
range from warnings when a
medicine is prescribed and the
patient has a contraindication to
that medicine, to clearer designs,
and automatic medicines lists that
can be printed for each patient
with clear instructions and dose
information,” Weekes said.
“Most of these functions seem
simple but when you consider the
potential impact they can have they
become very important,” she added.
The second stage of the study is
currently underway, and results are
expected to be out later in the year.
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