Some hospitals use systems created in-house, while others use commercial products created by companies such as Epic Systems, based in Verona, Wis. Currently, no industry standard system exists. It takes 12 to 36 months to implement computerized prescribing system, Gumpper said. "It's a growth industry," Kane said.Ī small handful of institutions, including Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, have been leaders in integrating computerized prescriptions, experts say. ![]() Some hospitals have stand-alone systems, while others have computerized prescriptions as part of an electronic medical record system.Įach year, more health systems implement computerized order entry systems and more will do so as electronic medical records become more common. Pharmacists frequently have to call the prescribing doctor or interview the patient because of problems in deciphering handwriting.Ĭurrently, only about 9 percent of hospitals have computerized prescription systems. "They don't have to decipher the chicken scratch," said Karl Gumpper, director of the pharmacy informatics and technology section of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, based in Bethesda, Md. In addition to improving patient safety, computerized systems make life easier for pharmacists. "Most errors typically go undetected unless they led to an adverse event," said review co-author Robert Kane. Medication errors include prescribing the wrong drug or incorrect dosage or administering a drug at the wrong time or not at all. Nearly a quarter of all hospital patients experience medication errors, a rate that has increased from 5 percent in 1992, according to the study. The University of Minnesota researchers looked at 12 studies that compared medication errors with handwritten and computerized prescriptions from in-hospital doctors. Nobody wants to make a mistake," said Tatyana Shamliyan, lead review author and a research associate at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. "These medication errors are very painful for doctors, as well as the patients. A simple mistake such as putting the decimal point in the wrong place can have serious consequences because a patient's dosage could be 10 times the recommended amount.ĭrugs with similar names are another common source of error, such as the pain medication Celebrex and the antidepressant Celexa, or the tranquilizer Zyprexa and the antihistamine Zyrtec. You should be able to count on your doctor to be in your court and help you achieve that goal.Illegible handwriting and transcription errors are responsible for as much as 61 percent of medication errors in hospitals. Your doctor’s style might be to make those suggestions sound friendly and nonthreatening, but behind those words is a lot of experience seeing what happens when people don’t follow a healthy lifestyle.īetter than an “I know,” response, ask your doctor for advice on how to take meaningful steps toward that goal. ![]() When the doctor says, “You need to stop smoking,” our initial response is “I know.” While doctors will never be substitutes for our mothers, they do know a thing or two about what keeps people healthy and safe. A follow up visit (or even a series of follow up visits) may be vital in making sure you have no hidden complications or that the initial diagnosis was the correct one and nothing further is going on. Don’t play doctor yourself and assume that if you’re feeling better that the visit is unnecessary.ĭoctors know the signs of when a condition is improving. When your doctor schedules you for a follow up visit, there is most likely a sound medical reason for it. And let the doctor know if you have any questions or problems with the medication. Don’t assume that if the symptoms have gone away that it’s OK to stop taking the medicine. ![]() Your doctor should go over with you how frequently you should take it, what time of day you should take it, and any restrictions that go along with taking it.įor many medications, your doctor may specify how many days or weeks you should be taking it. When you read the information that comes with a medication (a good thing to do with any new medication), you’ll see that there are precise directions for taking the medication. Your doctor is trusting you to take your prescription medicines according to directions.
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