A $187,000 grant was recently awarded to Martha Simpson, D.O., associate professor of family medicine at OU-COM. The grant, made by The Ohio Medical Quality Foundation, will fund the second phase of “Partners In Technology To Improve Patient Safety,” a three-phase project designed to help reduce preventable drug prescription errors through the adoption of electronic technologies. Simpson is one of several principals involved in the project, which is a joint collaboration with the Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy, the Ohio Pharmacy Association and the Ohio Osteopathic Association.

“We are extremely pleased that OMQF has continued to support this worthwhile project,” said Simpson. The foundation made a $74,458 award to fund phase one of the project, which identified what elements of e-script (electronic prescription) software were most important to physicians and pharmacists; selection of software and hardware for use in the second phase; and the documentation of elements necessary to meet the needs and expectations of pharmacists and physicians.

“The research that resulted from the first phase was very valuable. The foundation’s willingness to continue to fund it demonstrates the project’s promise to help improve patient safety.”

Phase two will set up a pilot electronic prescription system in selected physician offices and pharmacies in the Dayton area. Electronic prescription, says Simpson, allows direct electronic communication of a medical prescription   to a pharmacy.

“This is done already in hospital and similar institutional settings,” she said.

“What makes what we are doing unique is that we are implementing electronic prescribing in a community-based setting, where there is no relationship between a pharmacist and a doctor’s office.” Prescriptions will be, as in the past, issued in a doctor’s office but sent via the Internet to the pharmacy of the patient’s choice, she said.

Two advantages, she said, are that prescriptions can be ready when patients arrive at the pharmacy and elimination of handwriting mistakes. Also, she said, “e-prescribing” opens an avenue for interaction between pharmacist and physician. Pharmacists will be able to communicate more directly with physicians about their prescription orders if they have any concerns.

Enhancing patient safety, said Simpson, is the project’s primary purpose. About three percent of the 2 billion prescriptions made in this country result in adverse drug events (ADEs). “We believe we can show a decrease in preventable prescription errors through the adoption of e-prescribing tools.”

Over a four- to six-week period, Simpson expects that at least 1,000 e-prescriptions will be made, involving approximately 750 adult patients. That will provide the necessary threshold of statistically valid data to evaluate. Patient participation is voluntary. Patients will be contacted after three months to evaluate their health and any symptoms. Additionally, their medical records will be examined to identify any documented ADEs. The study will also evaluate the impact of human factors — such as attitudes about the electronic processes and physician-pharmacist collaboration — and the technologies themselves that affect implementation.

The Ohio Medical Quality Foundation was established as a public foundation in 1995 by the Ohio General Assembly and exists to improve health-care practices, including improvement of risk management and quality assurance in hospitals and outpatient settings.