Electronic prescription system requirements: a scoping review

An electronic prescription system is a mechanism that has long been implemented in many countries around the world. In the present study, we reviewed the requirements, standards, and features of an electronic prescription system for its correct and accurate execution.

This scoping review was conducted according to the PRISMA-SCR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews). A comprehensive literature search was performed with the related keywords in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and ProQuest with no time limit. The selection of papers was based on inclusion criteria. After removing duplicates, reviewing titles, abstracts, and full-text, 13 articles were included in the analysis.

Electronic prescription system requirements extracted from the studies: Patient data, Patient selection or identification and data access, Drug Selection, Security, Privacy and administration, Transparency and accountability, Interoperability and communication, Monitoring, report, reminder, and renewals, Feedback at the prescriber level, Infrastructure: Computer equipment, Awareness of physicians and System support, Patient education and information, Usability, Standards, History of Medications / Current Medications, Data transfer and storage, Alerts and other messages to prescribers, and filtering of user-selectable alerts for possible prescription problems and Decision support.

The results of this study showed that the electronic prescription systems have several functional and technical capabilities that can provide significant benefits to all system's stakeholders, including service providers, drug distributors, patients, and insurance organizations if used correctly.