 |
 |
 |
||
|
||||
|
June 2, 2006
E-prescriptions may limit medication errorsSTATE PHARMACY BOARD FIELDED 27 COMPLAINTS DURING 2005
"This is so much safer and convenient for both physician and the patient," Dr. Craig Morrow, an internist for Southwest Medical Associates, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I expect in the next five years that most, if not all, physicians here will have done away with writing prescriptions on paper," he said. Morrow said 200 of Southwest Medical's 250 physicians were involved in a joint e-prescription effort begun in December with parent company Sierra Health Services and clinical software company Allscripts. About 50 physicians outside Southwest Medical Associates are involved, officials said. The federal Food and Drug Administration estimates that medication errors cause at least one death every day and injure approximately 1.3 million people a year in the U.S. In Nevada, prescription errors were blamed for at least one death and 27 state Pharmacy Board complaints last year. Jeri Walter, a services coordinator at the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy, said Pharmacy Board hearings were held on complaints that prescriptions were incorrect, caused an allergic reaction, or weren't properly explained to patients. She declined to provide details about the case involving a death. Another 14 complaints this year have been set for hearings, Walter added. Advocates say e-prescribing reduces the risk of medical errors by eliminating hard-to-read physician handwriting and automatically searching drug interactions, allergies and duplication of medications. Dr. John Ellerton, a Las Vegas oncologist, said he record-keeping elements of the system. "You can be in the patient's room and send the prescription," said Ellerton who uses a hand-held system. "That's nice, and from a record-keeping standpoint, it's really nice.'" Physicians who are members of the Nevada State Medical Association can receive software from Allscripts at no cost under a two-year introductory program. Physicians who are not members of the association pay $20 a month to use the software, letting them use computers or handheld devices to generate prescriptions and send them to pharmacies over a secured wireless network. |
|
