Does electronic prescribing contribute to clinical governance?
Sunderland City Hospitals’ Principal Pharmacist, Rod Beard and
Carol Candlish, a senior lecturer at the University of Sunderland,
offer a means for evaluating electronic prescribing system features in
terms of clinical risk versus cost of investment.
abstract
A method of quantifying the value of parts of an electronic-prescribing
system was devised. Using a survey of published literature as a basis, a
scale of processing errors and their impacts (using cost as a measure of
comparative harm) was constructed. This allowed an investment evaluation to
be made that related to clinical risk-reduction. The information was also
used in determining the features of an ideal electronic prescribing system.
The authors conclude that use of the model developed at City Hospitals
Sunderland NHS Trust can help clarify the nature and extent of benefits an
organisation can expect when considering investment in electronic
prescribing.
Br J Healthcare Comput Info Manage 2004; 21(4): 27–9. |
