E-prescribing chaos
My hospital embarked on an ambitious project yesterday...e-prescribing. Basically what we used to do on paper (ie: write out prescriptions with our barely legible handwriting), we now do by typing into the computer and the prescription is sent electronically to the pharmacy. The idea is that by the time the patient takes the slow stroll to the pharmacy, the smiling pharmacist would be waiting for him with his medications all done. Beauooooo..tifulll!
Sounds good....on paper (pun intended) that is. We were given some form of 'training' prior to this. I went for such a course last week and it was totally useless. Our teacher wasn't even sure of the system himself and I couldn't hear what he was mumbling about though I was sitting about 6 feet from him. :-( We were given our passwords and told to go e-prescribe! Goody!
So, yesterday's clinic was chaotic! Many of us (I won't name names) did not go for the useless course and had to be given impromptu teaching in the clinic! And the system used was so archaic....for instance you cannot cut and paste. Meaning, if the patient has 12 kinds of medications, you have to type out every single one of them! That translates into time wasted and longer patient waiting time. And there is no automatic log out time, meaning if some one is using the patiet's info some where else and forgot to log out, there is no way you can access his info and prescribe. I had such a patient yesterday. He had to wait for more than half an hour while the IT fellas go hunting every for the culprit who forgot to log out.
And most of us doctors aren't all that nifty when it comes to typing, many of us type with one finger (after locating the appropriate key!!!). More time wasted. And the fonts used by the system was so small, I had difficulty reading it! I suspect by the time I leave this hospital at the end the year, I probably will need a change of eyewear. Sigh.
All these in an effort to make the hospital 'paperless'. I have serious doubt about how this system is going to make life easier. What's the point? After all, most hospitals I have been to have been paperless from time immemorial... all the toilets have no toilet paper and all the wash basins have no paper towels. We have indeed been very good at 'conserving' trees.
This new effort won't make any difference.
My hospital embarked on an ambitious project yesterday...e-prescribing. Basically what we used to do on paper (ie: write out prescriptions with our barely legible handwriting), we now do by typing into the computer and the prescription is sent electronically to the pharmacy. The idea is that by the time the patient takes the slow stroll to the pharmacy, the smiling pharmacist would be waiting for him with his medications all done. Beauooooo..tifulll!
Sounds good....on paper (pun intended) that is. We were given some form of 'training' prior to this. I went for such a course last week and it was totally useless. Our teacher wasn't even sure of the system himself and I couldn't hear what he was mumbling about though I was sitting about 6 feet from him. :-( We were given our passwords and told to go e-prescribe! Goody!
So, yesterday's clinic was chaotic! Many of us (I won't name names) did not go for the useless course and had to be given impromptu teaching in the clinic! And the system used was so archaic....for instance you cannot cut and paste. Meaning, if the patient has 12 kinds of medications, you have to type out every single one of them! That translates into time wasted and longer patient waiting time. And there is no automatic log out time, meaning if some one is using the patiet's info some where else and forgot to log out, there is no way you can access his info and prescribe. I had such a patient yesterday. He had to wait for more than half an hour while the IT fellas go hunting every for the culprit who forgot to log out.
And most of us doctors aren't all that nifty when it comes to typing, many of us type with one finger (after locating the appropriate key!!!). More time wasted. And the fonts used by the system was so small, I had difficulty reading it! I suspect by the time I leave this hospital at the end the year, I probably will need a change of eyewear. Sigh.
All these in an effort to make the hospital 'paperless'. I have serious doubt about how this system is going to make life easier. What's the point? After all, most hospitals I have been to have been paperless from time immemorial... all the toilets have no toilet paper and all the wash basins have no paper towels. We have indeed been very good at 'conserving' trees.
This new effort won't make any difference.
posted by Jimbo @ 5/04/2006 08:07:00 AM
1 Comments:
At 5/05/2006 08:20:00 AM,
Jimbo said…
jbytes,
Hi, yes, I have indeed. I have this feeling that the work previously done by the pharmacist has been pushed to us! Hmm....
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