The Multi-State Information System Drug Exception System: A Quality Assurance Tool

摘要

This paper reports on the development of computerized systems designed to be used as tools by mental health environments to assist them in carrying out their mandates of quality of care review. It begins with a description of the operational Multi-State Information System's Drug Exception Reporting (DER) component, an automated drug review system. The system is designed to be used in conjunction with a facility's drug utilization review process, to ensure that patients are receiving drugs in accordance with guidelines of prescribing. The DER system is a specific illustration of the notion of formalizing medical knowledge within a computer “knowledge data base” and relating such knowledge to the care process as reflected in a computer patient data base. This concept is precisely defined and discussed in terms of feasibility of application to other areas of psychiatry.