A prescription for better pharmacy computerization

The net effect of these features in an integrated system is that the pharmacist spends time more productively managing patient drug therapy, not the computer system. The patient's location and demographics, once entered, are immediately available in a clinically useful form. Information about medications, the patient's responses to them and all other clinical parameters is available in the pharmacy without leaving the pharmacy application, making the pharmacist more effective and efficient. Physicians' orders are qualified by the system as they are entered, minimizing the number of nonproductive encounters between the pharmacist and the physician. Medication orders arrive at the pharmacy in a more timely manner and with fewer problems. The pharmacy can, in turn, be more responsive, helping the patient receive medication that is timely, accurate and clinically appropriate. These benefits arise primarily as a by-product of the pharmacy being integrated into an information system environment in which data is easily and directly accessed and shared. The more closely the pharmacy and its information requirements are examined, the more important the integration component appears. Many of the above benefits are not achievable with a dedicated stand-alone pharmacy computer system; some are achievable with an interface to a stand-alone nursing-station based HIS. In the pharmacy, is to increase and flourish in its role as an important and integral part of the healthcare delivery team, then access by the pharmacist to all patient information, and access by other providers to information contributed by the pharmacy is a necessary requisite. Improvement inpatient care can be the only result of such enhanced interchange.