I have researched into how the implementation of IT into our healthcare society can reduce medical errors by the introduction on electronic prescription, EMR's(electronic medical records), bar-coding, ADM's/RDM's(automated/robotic dispensing machines) and tablet pc's. I aimed to do this by researching traditional based methods compared to the advantages and disadvantages of these emerging technologies.
I hope that I can educate a general audience on IT contribution to our healthcare society with blog. 


For my first blog post I am going to discuss electronic prescriptions, EMR's and bar-coding. I will then continue on with ADM's, tablet pc's and my conclusion in my next post

Traditional Prescription: 

Traditional prescription is based on a doctor writing down a prescription for a patient containing the specific medication and the dosage required. The patient is then responsible for bringing the prescription to a pharmacists, from there the pharmacist must give the patient the medication and dosage indicated on the prescription paper. There is a number of areas where problems can occur with this process

Electronic Prescription: 

Advantages

In my opinion electronic prescription is the area in which most medical errors can be reduced. These computerized prescribing systems lowers the risk of a doctor prescribing a patient medication they may be allergic to or cannot be taken along with medication the patient is already taking. I know a doctor should be aware of all these things but a simple slip of the mind in the doctor’s case could have serious consequences for the patient. The prescription can be simply entered into the computer and an alert would signal if the prescription presented a risk. This could potentially, save a patient’s life or at least a hospital visit and save the doctor a law suit!

Nurses and pharmacists make 80% of the errors in transcribing doctor’s handwriting and according to some estimates almost 30% of prescriptions require pharmacy call backs, thus wasting time for the pharmacist who could be better using this time educating the patient on their medication. Entering the prescription electronically saves the time spent transcribing it and can reduce errors by 40-60%.

Disadvantages

Of course, with this technology there are drawbacks such as if there was an electricity power outage the prescribing system could not be accessed, doctors would have to be trained in how to use this system and still at that errors could be made by selecting the wrong patient or dosage of medication and of course with anything that is done through internet usage there is the risk of hacking.

Traditional Medical Records: 

Traditional medical records are made up of pages and pages of patient information which are easily perishable by fire or water damage and in most cases are rarely backed up. These files take up a lot of storage space and cannot be efficiently accessed in an emergency situation.

Electronic Medical Records: 

Advantages

Recently more and more people are starting to use online EMRs such as Google Health. EMRs can greatly reduce medical errors, save time and resources. For example, if a patient with a heart condition has an underlying allergy to anaesthesia and is in sudden in need of emergency surgery the EMR will flag the allergy issue quickly and doctors will know to treat the patient in some other way without triggering the patients allergy.

Errors can be made when transcribing what a doctor has written down on a patient’s record and EMRs would eliminate this difficulty.

If a patient is overseas and suddenly becomes ill, the foreign doctor treating the patient will be able to access the patients EMR treating them quickly and efficiently. Without the use of the EMRs the patient’s record would have to be faxed/emailed which, could lead to numerous errors – translation, transcription, delay etc.

EMR’s can be accessed from anywhere with internet access and are not locked away in a doctor’s office.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of EMRs are the risk of hacking of personal information, start-up costs are quite steep, training would be necessary for medics using this software and some patients have found doctors’ visits to be depersonalized by the doctors engagement with the computer.

Bar Coding: 

Advantages

Bar-coding medications potentially could reduce drug administration errors by as much as 60%. It ensures that the correct medication is administered at the correct dose at the correct time to the correct patient. The nurse administering drugs to a patient must first scan the patient’s wristband and then scan the medication. If the dose corresponds to the pharmacist-approved medication order and the patient is due to take this dose, administration is automatically documented. Bar coding ensures medication is administrated at the correct time which can be very important for some patient. Nurses in a busy hospital can easily make the mistake of giving the patient their medication an hour too late, however bar coding ensures this error is not made. It also ensures the correct dosage is administrated. I recently read an article about a nurse who committed suicide because she administered a fragile baby 1.4 gram of calcium chloride instead of 140 milligrams. The minor mistake the nurse made had extreme consequences. With bar coding this tragic incident could have been avoided. The bar coding strategy is highly reliable and avoids errors in the administration of drugs, timing, dosage amount and transcribing.

Click here for link to article 

Disadvantages

There are few disadvantages to bar-coding such as a glitch, a programming error or a complete system black out however, since these are computerized systems they are all backed up unlike if a fire incurred in a pharmacy where all paper-based records would be destroyed.