Australian Electronic Medication Management Policy and Systems

Abstract

ABSTRACTAimTo investigate and describe the policies and activities of Commonwealth and state/territory health departments in regard to electronic medication management (EMM); and to evaluate the EMM systems available to Australian hospitals for usability, functional capabilities and system readiness.MethodA literature review of EMM systems was conducted, governments were contacted to gather data on policy and initiatives related to EMM systems, and vendor EMM systems were evaluated using ‘key principles' and ‘core features' criteria related to knowledge base, database, functionality and usability, and organisational aspects.ResultsThere is an abundance of data demonstrating the benefits of EMM systems but also an increasing number of reports of lessons learnt from their implementation. The Commonwealth sees its role as encouraging the adoption of electronic records and standardised ways of describing health products and terminology. The states and territories have approached EMM systems in various ways, from considering EMM as part of a state‐wide e‐Health strategy (Vic., SA, Qld, NSW), to trialling EMM or part EMM systems (SA, NT), to developing business cases or watching developments in other states (Tas., WA, ACT). 11 vendor EMM systems were evaluated using a continuous scale.ConclusionThere is good evidence of benefits with EMM systems, but there are many change management issues which need to be addressed. The Commonwealth appears focused on standards and interoperability. There is slow progress in a number of states towards EMM systems. There are a number of developed and proved vendor EMM systems available to Australian hospitals.