E-prescriptions shown to be safer for patients

E-prescriptions are seven times less likely to contain errors than those written by hand. The findings have been reported in a new study by Weill Cornell Medical College in the U.S. The results also showed the risks to patients when handwritten errors prescribed incorrect dossages.

The study’s authors compared the number and severity of prescription errors between 15 healthcare providers in the region of New York which adopted e-prescribing and 15 who continued to write prescriptions by hand. “We found nearly two in five handwritten prescriptions in these practices had errors," says Dr. Rainu Kaushal, the study's lead author and associate professor of pediatrics, medicine and public health, and chief of the Division of Quality and Medical Informatics at Weill Cornell Medical College. Despite the majority of the mistakes not risking health, they would have resulted in a loss of time for patients, doctors and pharmacists.

Dr. Erika Abramson, assistant professor of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College says: "We found that by writing prescriptions electronically, doctors can dramatically reduce these errors and therefore these inefficiencies."

Still, Weill Cornell Medical College team also gave governments and healthcare organisations  food for thought when it comes to adopting new electronic systems. Kaushal says: "It is important that electronic prescribing systems are easy for providers to use, fit well into their workflow, and that providers have technical assistance to help them install and maintain these systems."

There is currently a strong push worldwide to encourage doctors to write e-prescriptions in the ambulatory setting, where in the U.S. alone an estimated 2.6 billion drugs are provided, prescribed or continued.