Evaluation of Transition to Electronic Prescriptions in Turkey: Perspective of Family Physicians.

Sinan Bulut,Ahmet Yıldız,Sıdıka Kaya

doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2018.89

Abstract

Background: One of the most important steps of the health transformation program involves the application of electronic prescriptions (e-prescriptions) in health services. Information technologies are highly important in generating e-prescriptions, which can be described as a document produced by authorized personnel electronically, containing written information and instructions regarding a patient’s medication and its usage. E-prescribing has become increasingly applied in recent years as a contributing application to prescribers and patients. The aim of this study was to determine the level of satisfaction of family physicians providing primary care in Turkey regarding the application of e-prescriptions, and reveal the related positive effects and problems encountered in the first months of implementation of e-prescribing. Methods: A questionnaire with eight questions was sent to e-mails of all family physicians working in Turkey in May 2013. A total of 1564 family physicians filled in the questionnaire form and sent it back by e-mail. The responses to openended questions were evaluated by content analysis. Results: It was observed that the most frequently indicated advantages of the application of e-prescriptions were speeding up the prescription process and saving time (36.6%). The most commonly reported problems regarding the application of e-prescriptions were found to be system-induced problems (26.5%) and internet problems (19.9%). In addition, the mean score of satisfaction of the family physicians who did not report problems with the application of e-prescriptions was higher than that of those who reported having problems with it. In the study, 77.8% of the family physicians were satisfied with the application of e-prescriptions. Conclusion: Although some problems were reported regarding the application of e-prescriptions in the first months of the application, family physicians participated in the study were found to be satisfied with the application of e-prescriptions, and identified positive effects on their work and processes.

Highlights

Health information technology includes a variety of technologies that enable the management and transfer of information for patients, service providers, insurers, payment institutions and all other groups related to health and healthcare.[1]
Since the interviewees stated that number of questions should be kept minimum due to the heavy workload of family physicians, the questionnaire was limited to only 8 questions
In addition to the questions related to age, years of experience as a physician, number of e-prescriptions written daily, and time taken to write an e-prescription, the following questions were included a 5-point Likert-type question to determine the satisfaction level of physicians with the application of e-prescriptions, and 2 questions to determine the positive effects of e-prescriptions on physicians’ processes and whether problems with e-prescriptions were experienced, “Has the application of e-prescriptions had positive effects on your work and processes? If yes, what are these?” and “Are you having problems with the application of e-prescriptions? If yes, what are these?” The necessary permissions were obtained from the Ministry of Health, Public Health Institution of Turkey in order to conduct the study

Summary

Introduction

Health information technology includes a variety of technologies that enable the management and transfer of information for patients, service providers, insurers, payment institutions and all other groups related to health and healthcare.[1]. Bulut et al includes initiatives for increasing the utilization of information technologies in the provision of health services, aims to “put into practice the e-transformation project in the field of health” and, in this context, to promote the constitution, standardization, and classification of information systems, and the integration and active use of data gathered from different institutions.[4]. Human errors can decrease.[5] In addition, information technology plays a key role in providing better and safer care, and transformation of health services.[6] That is why information technologies are highly important in generating e-prescriptions, which can be described as a document produced by authorized personnel electronically, containing written information and instructions regarding a patient’s medication and its usage

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion