Electronic prescribing and medicines administration: are we
overcoming the barriers to success?
In spring 2000, participants in two workshops identified 22
barriers to the implementation of electronic prescribing and
medicines administration (EPMA). Earlier this year, Sean Brennan
and Alan Spours surveyed progress in implementing EPMA in
England and report here on current barriers.
keywords: electronic
prescribing and medicines administration, clinical decision support,
electronic patient record, ict deployment problems, organisational
change.
abstract
A review of progress on the implementation of electronic
prescribing and medicines administration (EPMA) in England was
carried out early in 2003 to identify if any of the 22 perceived and
actual barriers first listed three years previously were causing
difficulties.
Although over 20 hospital trusts have at least piloted EPMA at
ward level since the completion of the national trials at three
sites, none has achieved either hospital-wide or trust-wide EPMA in
the past three years.
The main difficulties being experienced at present result from
inadequate resourcing, organisational changes at many levels,
unavailability of appropriate software and absence of centralised
assistance.
Br J Healthcare Comput Info Manage 2003; 20(4): 19–22.
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