The pharmacy computer system at the New England Medical Center

The pharmacy computer system developed and implemented at the New England Medical Center (NEMC) is described. The system was developed to improve the department's fiscal performance and operations. It operates on NEMC's large mainframe system and has the following components-order entry, unit dose/patient profile, i.v. admixture, and financial/management. The system was designed to interface with the admissions and census system and use the pharmacy department's drug data file. It accepts medication orders from pharmacy satellites and then processes the orders according to the requirements for the i.v. admixture or unit dose procedures. Financial data are collected as a routine part of all medication order processing. The system allows for the entry of multiple medication orders on one cathode ray tube (CRT) screen, thus facilitating order entry. The use of programmed system defaults is described. Order entry, dose selection, and patient profiles are displayed on a CRT. An active order list is printed once daily at midnight to serve as a back-up for the system. The computer system has had a positive impact on the department's operational, clinical, and management functions. Future enhancements of the NEMC system are discussed.