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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.
News for the week of Dec. 6 – Dec. 11
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