Errors during the prescribing process can cause problems for patients. When the pharmacist intercepts a prescribing error, it can cause a delay, as the patient may not receive the medication until the problem is resolved. Electronic prescriptions are purported to reduce prescribing errors. However, studies have shown that electronic prescriptions can be prone to certain types of errors. Compoun...

BACKGROUND Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) can potentially help prevent medication errors. As the use of e-prescribing increases across Canada, understanding the benefits and gaps of early e-prescribing can help inform deployment of future e-prescribing systems. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the prevalence of, reasons for, and average time taken for p...

Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) is an important part of the nation's push to enhance the safety and quality of the prescribing process. E-prescribing allows providers in the ambulatory care setting to send prescriptions electronically to the pharmacy and can be a stand-alone system or part of an integrated electronic health record system. The methodology for this study followed the basic...

The use of electronic prescribing applications in pediatric practice, as recommended by the federal government and other national health care improvement organizations, should be encouraged. Legislation and policies that foster adoption of electronic prescribing systems by pediatricians should recognize both specific pediatric requirements and general economic incentives required to speed the a...

Electronic prescribing has improved the quality and safety of care. One barrier preventing widespread adoption is the potential detrimental impact on workflow. We used time-motion techniques to compare prescribing times at three ambulatory care sites that used paper-based prescribing, desktop, or laptop e-prescribing. An observer timed all prescriber (n = 27) and staff (n = 42) tasks performed ...

This decade will see the emergence of the electronic medical record, electronic prescribing and computerized decision support in the hospital setting. Current opinion from key infectious diseases bodies supports the use of computerized decision support systems as potentially useful tools in antibiotic stewardship programs. However, although antibiotic decision support systems appear beneficial ...

OBJECTIVE To provide a formative socio-technical evaluation of a pilot implementation of an integrated electronic prescribing, automated dispensing, barcode patient identification and electronic medication administration record (EMAR) system on one ward. DESIGN A qualitative observational approach using discourse analysis within a socio-technical evaluation framework addressing systems functi...