Editorials

Computer based prescribing

This month the British National Formulary goes electronic. Since it was first published in 1981 the paper version of the formulary has provided doctors and pharmacists with biannually updated information on all drugs that can be prescribed in Britain. It is now available on CD ROM.¹ The move is welcome because there is growing evidence that tools for computer based prescribing help doctors to make better and cheaper prescribing decisions.

Doctors in Britain prescribe drugs costing pounds sterling3.3bn annually, pounds sterling450m of which could potentially be saved.² But deciding which drug to prescribe can be difficult.³ One in 20 admissions to hospital is for the treatment of side effects related to drugs or the results of drug interactions⁴ (perhaps due to the difficulties that doctors have in calculating drug doses⁵) or other prescribing problems.³

Various approaches to improving the quality of prescribing have . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Mullett, C. J., Evans, R. S., Christenson, J. C., Dean, J. M. (2001). Development and Impact of a Computerized Pediatric Antiinfective Decision Support Program. Pediatrics 108: e75-75 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Nightingale, P G, Adu, D, Richards, N T, Peters, M (2000). Implementation of rules based computerised bedside prescribing and administration: intervention study. BMJ 320: 750-753 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Schiff, G. D., Rucker, T. D. (1998). Computerized Prescribing: Building the Electronic Infrastructure for Better Medication Usage. JAMA 279: 1024-1029 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Davies, J M (1996). Program calculates doses for neonates. BMJ 312: 446-446 [Full text]  
• Lewis, D. M (1996). Computer based prescribing. BMJ 312: 445c-445 [Full text]  
• Purves, I. (1996). Guidelines for GPs are being tested. BMJ 312: 446a-446 [Full text]  
• Weeks, R. (1996). Database is linked to Read codes. BMJ 312: 446b-446 [Full text]