Could electronic medical records and prescription software reduce medication errors?
Other than faulty communication, a lack of information at the time when the prescription is ordered is perhaps one of the most important contributing factors in medication errors. There are perhaps 20,000 drugs that can be prescribed and no one can keep track of all of these medications, dosage recommendations and possible interactions. We recommended that physicians use electronic information resources and electronic decision-making aids that could help them to prescribe medications more safely. Rather than scratching a prescription onto a piece of paper, physicians could type the medication, dosage and instructions they want to prescribe into a computer. The computer program, which would have information about the patient and about other medications the patient might be taking, could pop up a warning about any potential drug interactions. It might also make recommendations for alternative drugs. What it can really do is make the prescribing physician a little bit smarter. Electronic
