Updates on Electronic Medication Management Systems in Australia

Pulse+IT magazine in Australia has recently published two opinion pieces that focus on electronic medication management systems.

Joan Ostergaard, Product Manager of InterSystems, outlined some lessons learned in Australia's implementation of electronic medication management systems, which include such functions as electronic prescribing, dispensing, and medication administration.

Ostergaard said while electronic medication management systems offer the promise of significant benefits, including reduced medical errors, better compliance, time savings, cost savings, and better drug safety, early adopters have described a number of limitations and clinical risks associated with first-generation systems. These range from making wrong drug selections from electronic pick lists, to irrelevant alerts that reduce productivity, to the duplication of data entry across different departments.

Ostergaard argued that stand-alone, disparate systems that are not connected are partly to blame. Instead, to reduce the occurrence of errors, achieve time savings through reduced data entry and unnecessary communications and cost savings through better stock control and reduced wastage, a unified healthcare information system that includes medication management functionality, with all data residing in a single repository, is necessary.

Along this vein, Roger Boot, vendor manager at eRx Script Exchange, said MedView, a project that receives funding from the Australian government as part of the National eHealth Program, does exactly that.

He said the business case for Australia's National eHealth Program is dependent on medication management, which must include data from all relevant sources, including doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, and aged care settings. MedView, he said, does this in a way that is efficient and effective.

According to Boot, MedView, which can be integrated into existing clinical packages with no additional software or hardware required, will enable authorized clinicians to view data about their patients in an efficient and seamless process. Moreover, once a patient has given consent to participate in MedView, each time his or her healthcare provider prescribes or dispenses medications, an electronic record is automatically sent to and securely stored in the MedView repository.

Source: Pulse+IT Magazine