Electronic prescribing in pediatrics: toward safer and more effective medication management

    Pediatrics
    |March 27, 2013
    PubMed

    Insights

    Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) systems can enhance pediatric healthcare quality and safety. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends adopting these systems with specific pediatric features.

    Area of Science:

    • Health Informatics
    • Pediatric Healthcare
    • Health Policy

    Background:

    • Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) systems offer potential benefits for improving healthcare quality and reducing patient harm.
    • Limited but positive data exists regarding the impact of e-prescribing in pediatric populations.
    • Federal statutes incentivize the adoption and use of e-prescribing technologies.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To identify the value of e-prescribing systems in pediatric healthcare.
    • To recommend the adoption of e-prescribing systems tailored for pediatric use.
    • To outline essential functionalities for e-prescribing systems in pediatric settings.

    Main Methods:

    • Policy statement development based on existing pediatric data.
    • Consideration of federal legislative incentives for e-prescribing adoption.
    • Formulation of recommendations for technology vendors and healthcare providers.

    Main Results:

    • E-prescribing systems hold significant potential for enhancing quality of care in pediatrics.
    • Positive pediatric data, though limited, supports the benefits of e-prescribing.
    • Federal incentives encourage the uptake of these systems.

    Conclusions:

    • The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends adopting e-prescribing systems with pediatric functionality.
    • Specific functional requirements for e-prescribing vendors in pediatric environments are outlined.
    • Widespread adoption can lead to improved safety and quality in pediatric healthcare.

    Related Concept Videos

    Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion01:26

    Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion

    In pediatric medicine, understanding the renal function and drug elimination nuances is crucial for administering safe and effective treatments. Newborns, in particular, display markedly slower renal functions than adults, profoundly affecting how drugs are cleared from their bodies. This slower drug clearance requires clinicians to extend the dosing intervals for many medications to prevent drug accumulation and toxicity while ensuring therapeutic efficacy.One key area where these adjustments...
    Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Distribution01:17

    Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Distribution

    Drug distribution in the pediatric population exhibits unique challenges and considerations due to the physiological differences between children, particularly neonates and infants, and adults. A crucial aspect of pediatric pharmacology is understanding how these differences impact the pharmacokinetics of various drugs, necessitating age-specific dosing strategies to ensure efficacy and safety.Neonates and infants have a higher total body water content, ~75%–90% of their body weight, compared...
    Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Metabolism01:24

    Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Metabolism

    In pediatric care, understanding the nuances of hepatic drug metabolism is crucial, as it significantly differs from that of adults. This divergence is primarily due to the developmental stage of drug-metabolizing enzymes, which affects how medications are processed in the body. In neonates, for instance, the activity of Phase I enzymes—critical for the initial breakdown of drugs—is markedly reduced, functioning at just 20–40% of the levels seen in adults. This reduction poses a challenge in...
    Pharmaceutical Poisoning: Potential Scenarios01:26

    Pharmaceutical Poisoning: Potential Scenarios

    Pharmaceutical poisoning can occur through various channels, impacting an estimated 2 million hospitalized patients in the U.S. annually with serious adverse drug responses. These scenarios encompass both therapeutic uses, such as drug toxicity, where even standard dosages can lead to severe central nervous system depression, and non-therapeutic exposures, including accidental ingestion by children, and environmental and occupational exposures.Unintentional poisonings often involve exploratory...
    Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Overview and Drug Absorption01:23

    Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Overview and Drug Absorption

    Understanding the physiological differences in the pediatric population is crucial for effective pharmacotherapy. Neonates, infants, and children exhibit significant variations in gastric pH, gastric emptying time, intestinal transit time, and biliary function. These variations profoundly affect oral drug absorption, necessitating a nuanced approach to pediatric dosing.Neonates present with a unique physiological profile, having a gastric pH greater than 4 and faster and more irregular gastric...
    Drug Dosing: Infants and Children01:29

    Drug Dosing: Infants and Children

    Pediatric patient dosages diverge from adults due to disparities in body surface area, total body water, and extracellular fluid per kilogram of body weight. The dosing regimen considers the variations in pharmacokinetics and pharmacology across distinct age groups, encompassing preterm newborns, infants, young children, older children, and adolescents. Calculation of pediatric patient doses is predicated on determining body surface area, which exhibits a superior correlation with the child's...