Question

Consider a pharmacy information system (as a subsystem of the clinical information systems)

A3.1. Discuss in a structured way all the inputs and then the outputs from a pharmacy information system.

A3.2. Describe the links of a pharmacy system to other health care information systems.

A3.3. What are the benefits that may occur as a result of the use of a computerized pharmacy information system.

Answer 1

The pharmacy information system plays an active role in providing health services. Its a useful strategy which increases the quality of health care facility. Its a systematic system that validates and investigates all the process related to medication and provides accurate information to doctors, nurses, other administrative department about the medication process.

1) INPUTS of a pharmacy information system are :

• The order of the medication entered in the pharmacy system by the doctors which needs to be prepared and dispensed.
• The other inputs are from various pharmacological companies that gives information about all newly available medications.
• The pharmacy manual also serves as an input, that imparts all the necessary information about the drugs, its preparation, distribution, interactions, side effects, uses and many more.
• The other input comes from the nurses who is responsible in medicating with medication error forms, that help to identify the errors and to take necessary steps in preventing such errors.

OUTPUTS of pharmacy information system : The output from a pharmacy information system is to the doctors, nurses and other administrative department that deals with the drug administration and management. It also delivers information through the means of dispensing medications.

2) The pharmacy playing a vital role in delivering quality care services, is linked to the variious departments of health care information systems. As it possess all information pertaining to medication process starting from the medication order to outcome of medication on patients, its serves a basis to detailed analysis of the medication system.

• The pharmacy information system is initially linked to the main health information system which is the master brain to store all the relevant information pertaining to patient that includes medications.
• Its linked with the administrative department which manages the cost of its purchase and distribution.
• Its linked with the basic electronic patient information system that serves a platform for the doctors and nurses in ordering and in delivering medications to patients.
• It is linked to the software in the floor system that imparts complete knowledge about a drug by its drug manual.
• It is also linked with research and statistics department, who requires information from pharmacy to make study on various aspects of drug administration.
• Its linked with the quality department of the hospital that provides necessary information to analyze the quality of services provided by pharmacy in drug adminstration.

3) Benefits of a computerized pharmacy information system:

• The prescription of medication is clear and easily readable that helps the nurses and the pharmacy to understand the doctors order clearly without any transcribing errors.
• It provides a set of policies and protocol that needs to be followed at various levels of care during drug administration and management.
• This has reduces the incidences of medication error in the hospital.
• A huge amount of information related to medication can be stored easily.
• It not only helps in ordering, preparing and dispensing medication but also to make a study of what and why a drug is ordered.
• It also helps in research purposes of the hospital as it also gives information about the outcomes of the drug.
• It safes the time of the health care providers that is wasted in misinterpretation, clarifications of the orders.
• It helps to calculate the time when the drugs are about to finish and to be ordered.
• Its helps to ensure safe drug administration a.nd drug safety
• It helps to maintain a proper list of inventory and bar code of drugs to control current and past ordered drugs.
• It also helps to reduce the incidences of drug misuses.