How an electronic prescription tool enables better prescription quality for patients

ABSTRACT

Objective: Medication-related errors in patients are among the leading causes of preventable health damage and harm worldwide. In the United States, these errors cause at least one death a day and damage approximately 1.3 million people annually. According to the World Health Organization, the global expenditure on medication-related errors is estimated to be U$ 42 billion per year. In Brazil, the rate of potential drug interactions varies between 28% and 63.6% for primary care patients. The prevalence of drug interactions has increased following an aging population, increased chronic conditions, combined use of different drugs, and increased prescription drugs per patient. Methods: The data used for this study were obtained through the database from Nexodata do Brasil S.A a private health technology company with an electronic prescription system and a data intelligence area. Results: 65,867 electronic prescriptions were evaluated during 2019. Of these, 4,828 prescriptions had an average of 2.5 interactions. These interactive prescriptions were generated by 197 different doctors, totaling 24.5 prescriptions with interaction per doctor over 12 months. A total of 12,005 interactions were identified, 15.6% classified as mild, 70.9% as moderate, and 13.5% as severe. Conclusion: By implementing an electronic prescription tool, a reduction of 32.9% in the number of prescriptions with drug interaction was observed.