Drug-Drug Interaction Clinical Decision Support Systems: Advantages, Challenges and Barriers, and Strategies to Overcome Them

Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are a common source of preventable medical errors in inpatient and outpatient settings of both developed and developing countries. When two or more drugs are simultaneously prescribed, interactions between their effects may result in preventable adverse events such as damages to vital organs, frequent hospitalizations, prolonged length of hospital stay, and increased care cost for both patients and healthcare systems. Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) have a great potential to support care providers to identify and manage DDIs timely, and thereby, to improve the quality of decisions on medication prescriptions. In this opinion paper, we provide a concise review of efforts necessary for a successful design and development of a DDI-CDSS with particular focus on the Iranian healthcare context. We also touch upon the measures to consider in order to overcome some of the important challenges and barriers jeopardizing the design and application of DDI-CDSSs in Iran.