A Comparison between Handwritten & Computer-Assisted Prescriptions

GROUP:TEAM SPECTRA

PRESENTED BY:

Department of Pharmacy, Northern University Bangladesh

Name: Ashraful Islam Zahid(1962),MD Naimul lslam (1952), Khan Hasan(1961),Ruminoman

Dipu(1999),Dia khan(1965),Faria lslam Neha(1997),MD Sajeeb Mahmud(1991),Tauhidul lslam(1990)

ABSTRACT:

PHOTO

INTRO:

RESULT:

CHART

THE RESULT SHOW ……………..

DISCUSSION:

OUR GROUP SURVEY:

CITY: RURAL:

SOME CLASSIC EXAMPLES OF PRESCRIPTION ERRORS ARE:

A patients with cough and cold was prescribed Laveta tablet to be taken once daily. Bad handwriting led
to him taking Caverta tablet instead, which is a viagra group of drug. One patient was administered 40
units of insulin when he was to be given only four units (the nurse on duty read U as 0). “U” is often
misinterpreted and read as the number “0”, leading to overdoses by many times. Decimal points are a
common source of errors. They are very likely to be misinterpreted. In another case, A patient received
5 mg tablet Alprazolam (sleeping medicine) instead of .5mg written on a prescription (.5 was read as 5,
the decimal point was missed). So, any number less than 1 should be preceded by a zero. Instead of
writing .5 mg, it should be written as 0.5 mg. Another patient was given 10 mg of tablet Larpose when
the intent was to give 1.0 mg (1.0 was misread as 10 mg). Use of a trailing zero after a decimal often
causes overdose and should be avoided (write as 1 mg, not 1.0 mg).
Valtrex (valACYclovir) and Valcyte (valGANciclovir), are both used for cytomegalovirus (CMV), but for
different reasons. A heart transplant patient receiving Valtrex when they need Valcyte is a problem.

By utilizing E-Prescribing, both the prescriber and those who handle the prescription along the way can
feel assured they have given the patient the correct medication.

Significance of Computerized Prescription:

• PREVENT PRESCRIPTION DRUG ERRORS: Compared to hand-written prescriptions, e-
prescriptions are extremely clear in terms of treatment and dosage and require less
interpretation on the part of the pharmacist. This can reduce prescription and medication
errors. It also can help ensure patients have the most accurate information possible about how
a particular drug should be taken. E-prescriptions can reduce the risk of an incorrect dose, which
can easily waste time or even cause harm to a patient in a worst-case scenario. One meta-study
found that when practices implemented an e-prescribing system, medication error could be
reduced to one-seventh its original levels.
• INSTANT NOTIFICATION OF ALLERGIES, DRUG INTERACTIONS, DUPLICATE THERAPIES: E-
Prescribing gives prescribers full insight into a patient’s previous prescription history at the click
of a button. System alerts inform prescribers of allergies, potential drug interactions, as well as
duplicate therapies, pregnancy and other issues that would be contraindicated for a patient
when taking a particular medication
• PRESCRIPTION FULFILLMENT TRACKING: E-prescription systems can help doctors track whether
or not patients have picked up the next refill. In this way, these systems can let clinicians know
which people are staying on top of their medication and which may have stopped following a
prescribed treatment.
• REDUCE LOST PRESCRIPTIONS: Paper prescriptions are small and easy to misplace which adds
work for medical offices as they must rewrite or call the prescriptions into the pharmacy. E-
Prescribing allows prescriptions to be sent directly to the pharmacy, so patients don’t have to
keep track of another piece of paper.
• INCREASED PRESCRIPTION EFFICIENCY: Hand-writing prescriptions can be both tedious and
costly in terms of time spent, as they often need to be individually drawn up and authorized.
With some e-prescription systems, clinicians can automatically refill dozens of RXs at the same
time, allowing them more to review them. This can both increase efficiency and reduce the
prescription error rate.
• REDUCE READMISSIONS: Every year, there are more than 1.6 million hospital readmissions, and
more than 13 percent of them are caused in part by adverse reactions to drugs. Of these, 95
percent were due to inappropriate prescription practices — including failure to consider
potential side effects and interactions. Clinicians that work with e-prescription systems can
expect to reduce patient readmissions, saving both doctors and patients time and money.
• RECONCILE MEDICATION HISTORY QUICKLY: Prescribers can view a patient’s medication history
instantly when using E-prescribing. This saves time reconciling medication lists or committing
clinical information to memory manually.
 • Take home message: This study has shown that computerized prescriptions have enhanced
patient safety through decreasing number of both serious and non-serious prescription errors
when compared to handwritten prescriptions at JRMS. Therefore, it is recommended to apply
computerized prescriptions throughout all JRMS hospitals. For other health care organizations,
factors such as cost, efficient software system and lack of acceptance by prescribers should be
taken into consideration by decision makers before applying computerized prescriptions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

REFERENCES: