The Attempt to Develop Supporting System for Prescription Entry and Dispensing

The prescription entry systen which runs on the ACOS system 3600/6 “ORDERING” (NECCorporation) was implemented on January 4, 1992 for outpatients and on September 1, 1993 for inpatients of Kanazawa University Hospital. Six decision-making support functions were added to the system: verifying prescription overlap (1) and clinically significant drug interactions (2), warning of new-entry and important adverse reactions (3), supplying information on patients' drug-allergies (4), automatic calculating of pediatric dosage (5) and providing of drug information (6). In addition, four printing functions on prescription sheet were introduced to support the dispensing process, which includes information on patients' other prescriptions and changes or modifications in medication orders. In particular, the two functions of verifying the prescription overlap and clinically significant drug interactions are decision-making supportable and are expected to be effective in preventing overdosing and dangerous adverse reactions.