E-prescribing can therefore be described as the generation and transfer of prescriptions electronically by prescribers to the pharmacies. Its goal was to be more efficient, safer and reduce the repeated medication errors and at the same time enrich the other aspects of patient care. Nevertheless, concerning virtually any advancement in technology, implications to security are incredibly dire. Thus, this paper explores the safety of electronic prescribing, the benefits and risks, as well as protection for patient information. Understanding Electronic Prescribing What is E-Prescribing? Using electronic prescriptions means the creating of prescriptions by a prescriber electronically or passing of prescriptions between the prescriber and a pharmacist. Telepharmacy or electronic prescribing systems exclude prescriptions on paper all together. This means there will be no inherent errors resulting from handwriting prescriptions. The access to a patient’s medication history also allows the provider to make more informed decisions. Advantages of E-Prescribing There are many benefits associated with e-prescribing, among which are: Improved. E-prescribing reduces the opportunities for medication prescription and dispensing errors as well as misinterpretation due to the absence of handwriting. Efficiency: The prescription reaches the pharmacy immediately. A patient is discharged sooner, and at the same time, streamlines the provider workflow. Access to Patient Records: All the E-prescribing systems are integrated to the EHR that enable the provider get full details about the medications, allergies and additional information about the patient. Medication Management: The e-prescribing systems will be able to alert the providers about the possible interactions, allergies or even duplication of therapy hence increasing patients’ safety. Patient Convenience: Patients will be able to select their desired pharmacy and will even be informed when their prescriptions are ready for collection. Electronic Prescribing Security Issues Even though e-prescribing has its benefits, there are also a number of security issues that arise, and these have to be resolved to protect the patient’s data and ensure safe prescribing practice. 1- Data Privacy Patients’ data about privacy is one of the critical problems related to e-prescribing since the electronic prescription contains sensitive demographics about the patient, medications, and the prescribing doctor. That makes it form a highly probable source of vulnerable access if such protection is not provided, and therefore, threatened with breaches into privacy. 2- Cyber security threats Like any other digital system, there are always risks of hacking, malware and phishing on e-prescribing systems. Cybercrime can affect Health care organizations in two ways; as a way to steal important data or as a way of denying service delivery. A cyber-attack may compromise patient data and disrupt the prescribing process and possibly put patients at risk. 3- System Reliability E-prescribing systems depend on technology; therefore, errors are possible and sometimes inevitable. Technical malfunction or system downtime prevents the view of a patient’s medical history or transmission of prescription to the healthcare provider. In this regard, it is possible to delay treatment to the patients. Thus, reliability as well as uptime of the e-prescribing systems are necessary for the safety of patients. 4- Human Error While e-prescribing minimizes the possibility of mistakes due to illegible writing, it is impossible to avoid making a human error. Providers must be trained on how the electronic prescribing system is correctly used. If the users are sloppy, then they might commit medication or dosing errors. Book Free Demo Steps to Overcome Electronic Prescribing Security Risk The security risk involved with electronic prescribing can be overcome through the following steps. 1- Authenticated Protocols Strong authentication protocols by the healthcare organization ensure that only authorized personnel are able to access e-prescribing systems. Such a protocol could include multi-factor authentication, where one would require various means of identification to access information deemed sensitive. 2- Data Encryption Data encryption for the transmission and storage of information should be part of an e-prescribing system to prevent information falling into the wrong hands concerning patients’ details. The systems of e-prescribing should apply advanced standards of encryption, which would help ensure data protection while at the same time upholding confidentiality. 3- Security Audits Periodically The healthcare organizations should carry out periodic security analyses in the e-prescribing systems. It can help to detect the existing vulnerabilities within the system. Thereby, the healthcare organizations will be able to decide which aspects of the implemented security need improvement in its measures for ensuring the security of the patient’s information. 4- Employee Training Proper education on the proper usage of an e-prescribing system to the healthcare service providers and all the employees must be done. Educating employees with the best practices, recent cyber threats, and how to respond in case any breach is faced must be done up to date. 5- Monitoring System E-prescribing systems should be monitored in real time, and this helps in the identification of suspicious activities and potential security breaches. Organizations can monitor the activity in their system with automated tools, receiving alerts about unusual behavior. 6- Compliance with Regulations The e-prescribing systems are legal in the United States where it is categorized under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-HIPAA. It ensures that all health care organizations follow standard that would guarantee that patient information and data are safe. Conclusion Electronic prescribing is a great achievement in the health sector. This has improved the efficiency and safety of the prescription process. However, despite various advantages, there are certain security concerns that have to be taken into consideration while adopting e-prescribing to ensure safety of the patient’s data. Proper security measures, training for health care providers, and adherence to the regulations and guidelines may help to minimize the risks associated with e-prescribing. As the landscape of health care is changing, the patient, provider, and organization must continually be vigilant and proactive in preserving the confidentiality of such sensitive information. Health sectors can ensure that technology is utilized properly with best available security features in the protection of patient information and integrity of the prescription by securing electronic prescribing. FAQs 1- Is electronic prescribing safer than a standard paper prescription? Yes, e-prescribing is relatively safer than the
Paper prescriptions and electronic prescribing are two contrasting methods of medication management. The healthcare environment continues to morph along with the method of prescription creation. This paper is an attempt to shed light on how the two ways differ from one another, listing the advantages that each mode produces as well as the shortcomings of each in regard to both healthcare providers and patients and health care systems themselves. What are Electronic Prescribing? The term e-prescribing refers to a computer crafted and transmitted prescription except for a printed format. The process can take place with the use of a computer, or a tablet or even a mobile phone. Information of the prescription is captured directly by the prescriber using an electronic health record system. Characteristics of e-prescribing Direct Transference: The E-prescriptions are transmitted to the pharmacy. Thus, a paper prescription that the patient has to carry will be avoided. Real-time Alerts: E-prescribing systems can alert health care providers about real-time interactions of drugs, allergic reactions, and dosing mistakes that increase the safety of a patient. Patient History Access: Access to patient medication history increases the prescribing skills of health care providers. Better Workflow: Apart from the above, e-prescribing with EHRs has streamlined the workflow for the prescribers. What are Paper Prescriptions? The prescriptions that the prescribers complete in paper then hand over to the patient in a hard copy that the patient has to take physically to the pharmacy for dispensing. That was the prescription writing way in the old times for centuries. Traditional Prescription: Important Attributes Paper Prescription on Paper: Prescription is on paper. The prescription has to be taken to a pharmacy by the patients. Handwritten Reconciliation: The pharmacists have to write down the prescription information in their records, and it is one of the major sources of transcriptional errors. Inadequate Medication History: The healthcare providers do not get an instant of a detailed view of a patient’s medication history. Thus, the interactions are hard to identify. Paper prescriptions tend to get misplaced or even stolen. This puts the patient and pharmacies in danger. Electronic Prescribing Vs. Traditional Prescriptions 1- Safety and Accuracy E-Prescribing: The greatest advantage of e-prescribing is patient safety, in my view. Any e-prescribing system, by definition, contains decision support that pop-up reminders to a healthcare provider possible drug interactions, allergies, and contraindications. Real-time feedback from such systems may prevent adverse drug events as well as improve quality care. Electronic prescriptions eliminate the possibilities of misinterpretation via poor handwriting or vague instructions. Old Drugs. The prescription of the old medicine has been there from time immemorial. That is, they have been existing for ages; sometimes the inscriptions inside include unclear writings with imperfections. This leads to errors that often deceive pharmacists in presenting such prescriptions and, therefore leading to drug-related problems with the patient. 2- Efficiency and Inconvenience E-Prescribing: Efficiency comes because of optimizing the process of writing a prescription. The doctor can pen an easy prescription and then email it to a chosen pharmacy in time to spare the patient many hours of delay. Convenience does not stop at the doctor’s office for patients-they do not have to carry paper prescriptions with them very often; theirs is ready upon pickup. Traditional Prescriptions: The traditional prescribes one more step to the patient; that is, the prescription should be handed in personally at the pharmacy. This leads to added wait time and even delay in getting the prescribed medicine. Book Free Demo 3- Cost-Effectiveness E-Prescribing: One advantage in the use of e-prescribing is that it can reduce cost in the long run. For example, if the health care systems lower the medication errors, adverse drug events, hospitalizations and ED visits, then they are cutting their cost. Furthermore, electronic systems may help manage medication therapy better, and this might potentially be more cost-effective. Traditional Prescriptions: The cost of traditional prescription may also include potential costs of prescription error that ultimately might mean increased treatment cost and admission. But when set-up cost of the system might be on higher side of small practice of e-prescribing systems then they would pay up eventually too. 4- Patient Participation and Satisfaction E-Prescribing: E-prescribing supports the enhancement of activation as the patients will automatically receive reminders from the prescribers about the prescriptions that have been issued. The patient also can access his/her medication history and fills through a patient portal included with most EHR systems. This can potentially help enhance patient satisfaction and adherence to therapy. Patients on traditional prescriptions care less about their drug management. Patients in such prescriptions would often request the provider about their history of drugs that can only be retrieved if a patient requested the same. 5- Challenges and Limitations E-Prescribing: While e-prescribing has been treasured for its advantage, there is some disadvantage of undertaking it in practice. Technical constraint may include system breakdown or slow Internet connection hitch may slow down the process of prescribing. Not all pharmacies are e-prescription-capable, so that becomes a problem for the patient. Finally, there is a concern about electronic data transmission being used to ensure that sensitive information of patients does not fall into the wrong hands. Traditional Prescriptions. Traditional paper-based prescriptions are easy to lose, or even be stolen, and worse still, become forged. It takes some reasonable time before most patients get access to drugs simply because pharmacies run on few hours, take long in processing and, in a few cases, communicate other providers inaccurately. Impact on the Healthcare Providers With the introduction of e-prescribing, prescription management becomes different through its integration into the EHRs. Healthcare providers can easily smoothen out their workflows by enhancing quality care delivery. These are a few impacts for the healthcare provider as follows. 1- Simplify Workflow Probably the biggest advantage of such systems is a reduction of the administrative work load associated with prescriptions, thereby lessening the hassle that providers experience while handling prescriptions. Since it’s very easy and fast to input and transmit prescriptions, providers are able to devote much
Electronic prescription is a great technology that has taken over prescribing drugs in the healthcare facilities. This speeds up the medication administration process, greatly reduces the margin of error that comes with manual entry, and provides a more secure system to prevent drug errors. Several issues of the present article will discuss the advantages of implementing e-prescribing for both patients and providers to understand how it has impacted positive change in care delivery, patient safety and pharmacists’ work environment. Understanding Electronic Prescribing E-prescribing can be described as the creation, transmission and completing of medical prescriptions. This is mainly about direct transmission of prescriptions to the pharmacy which makes it that paper prescription is no longer required. Often such systems have incorporated features like the medication history, drug interaction check list and clinical decision support systems to help in the common prescription decisions for providers. Key Components of E-Prescribing Systems User Interface: This is a user-friendly interface that allows a provider to input and manage prescriptions easily. Drug Interaction Alerts: Alerts that warn providers of the potential adverse interactions of prescribed medications. Medication History: A patient’s history of prescribed medications, which helps in making proper treatment decisions. Refill Management: Tools that help manage refills on prescription medications. 1- Increased Precision and Safety Decrease of Errors Another very important benefit that can be cited about e-prescribing is a major reduction of errors related to medications. Written prescriptions often suffer misinterpretation; for example, from bad handwriting of a prescriber, sometimes prescriptions carry obscure instructions, among others. Electronic prescribing removes this risk because the prescription would thus be clear and readable. Drug Interaction Checks Clinical decision support is integrated automatically into any e-prescribing system, thereby incorporating into it the clinical reasoning that auto-checks the potential drug interaction and allergies. This feature in e-prescribing is very critical to patient safety since it helps ensure that any prescriber can identify possible issues before even the filling of a prescription. In example, if the prescriber is trying to prescribe a drug which might cause an adverse interaction with a patient’s other drugs which he or she is already taking, the system will alert the prescriber to reassess the treatment plan. This can prevent adverse drug events and therefore safer prescribing. E-prescribing enhances general patient safety by minimizing possible medication errors. Patients will be put on safer appropriate medication that actually cures health issues; such increases treatment result efficiency and decrease risks of secondary complication. 2- Increased Productivity The Efficiency Workflow E-prescribing is a process that expedites prescription operations for the healthcare provider. Prescriptions can be directly sent to pharmacies as electronic prescriptions, speeding up workflow operations, reducing telephone calls, or faxes and cutting down on paperwork, thus saving time for both providers and the pharmacy staff. For instance, once an appointment is completed, a provider can quite simply input the prescription into an e-prescribing system and then send the prescription to pharmacy for processing. The efficiency of the process saves time in the hands of providers since they are allocated more time directly to patient care. Fast Prescription Processing With e-prescribing, prescriptions can be processed more quickly than traditional methods. Pharmacies receive prescriptions immediately, allowing them to prepare medications without delay. This efficiency benefits patients by reducing wait times for medication pickup. Patients can walk into the pharmacy, and in most cases, can find their medicines ready for them, so waiting for prescriptions is not an issue. This also helps in those patients who really need the prescription as soon as possible, and this may benefit those who require medication to regulate chronic conditions. Improved Communication Thus, the e-prescribing benefits include improvement of relations between the providers and the pharmacies. For instance, if prescription contains an error, for instance the dose adjustment or the, or if the drugs are out of stock e-prescribing will allow the pharmacy to instantly communicate with the prescribing practitioner. Rapid communication will result in quick resolution of the problem, improving patient care. For example, if there is an issue related to a prescribed medication for a drug that a pharmacy has ordered, this could potentially convey the provider through an e-prescribing system such that the prescription would be clarified or corrected in real time. In this way, care coordination would be able to be impacted by healthcare providers and pharmacists. 3- Greater Convenience to the Patient Availability of Medication E-prescribing directly allows the electronic sending of prescription medication to one’s preferred drugstore. Thereby, saves the patients several frustrations as this way they have avoided the numerous hassle and annoyance of going back to the physician’s office just to gain a paper form prescription. For immobile patients or those living in remote areas, e-prescribing becomes the easy facilitator to access the drugs they need. A patient will be at liberty to settle on any pharmacy where it is considered to be more accessible for them, hence being more patient-centered. Book Free Demo Medication History Most of the current e-prescribing systems allow patients to view their medication history on the Web. This feature allows patients to keep a record of their prescriptions and be well-equipped about what to say when they go to new providers or pharmacies. The ability of all patients’ medication histories being available would be a control the patient can take over their care because they could tell the new providers what drugs they were receiving, hence lessening the occurrence of duplicate prescriptions or adverse reactions. Fewer Medication Errors at the Pharmacy Electronic prescriptions reduce the chance of an error that could result from the fill of a prescription. Easy and legible prescriptions create less ambiguity and prevent errors of dispensing. For instance, the paper prescription may fail to indicate clearly the medication, dosage, and route of administration. An e-prescription has it clear in terms of medication, dosage, and route of administration, thereby making the dispensing process much more reliable. 4- Efficient Prescription Refill Management Simplified Refill Requests It enables patients to request refills easily. Patients can request prescription refills
