Recommendations for Establishing Policy for Electronic Prescribing in the State of Texas: Graduate Management Project

摘要

This study examines the issue of medication errors and viable policy for the state of Texas to address such errors. Various studies suggests over 300,000 preventable adverse drug events (ADEs) occur each year during outpatient care. With the establishment of preventable ADEs as a substantial problem, further review of medication error studies indicates that health information technology provides a means of reducing errors by 30 percent or more. Analysis of the political circumstances reveals that federal lawmakers have focused attention on health information technology, in general, and electronic prescribing, in specific, but Texas lawmakers have widely ignored the issue. Industry interest groups are broadly in favor of electronic prescribing, but physicians hold concerns that electronic prescribing systems may produce a significant cost burden to their practices. The advent of a cost- free electronic prescribing solution effectively answers physician concerns regarding cost. This study demonstrates that medication errors represent a substantial problem, that electronic prescribing is a sound solution to this problem, and that a window of opportunity exists because of the availability of a cost-free electronic prescribing solution.