Automated conversion of dispensing records into referrals for post-prescription review.

Abstract

Objective To automate an existing process to produce timely referrals to the antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) team within Guidance-MS® in a large private hospital group without an electronic medicines management system. The existing process involved manual translation by AMS pharmacist of the previous day’s dispensing records from six independent dispensaries into Pharmacy Alerts within Guidance-MS.

Method A partnership between Slade Pharmacy, Guidance, and Epworth IT specialists developed an electronic solution that integrates existing applications (pharmacy dispensing software and Guidance approval systems). A Pharmacy Integration Component (PIC) within Guidance identifies occasions of new supply of nominated drugs / dose forms (as per a customisable lookup table), and creates Pharmacy Alerts. Accommodation of existing or recently discontinued approvals limits the creation of extraneous records.

Results The PIC creates referrals every day, correlating the prescriptions more correctly to the time and location of the patient when treatment is initiated. AMS pharmacist time available for other tasks has increased by 3 hours per week.

Conclusion The PIC creates a timely referral path for the AMS team requiring no manual inputs, from either the AMS pharmacist or other staff, and provides an accurate base to triage patients for AMS team review.