Michelle Chui, assistant professor in the Social and Administrative Sciences Division, and Olufunmilola Odukoya, graduate student working with Chui, were awarded a $30,000 grant to study e-prescribing on patient safety and pharmacy workflow.

Selected by The Community Pharmacy Foundation, the first of its kind project entitled “Impact of e-prescribing on patient safety and pharmacy workflow in community pharmacies,” may shed light on the impact of e-prescribing on patient safety and pharmacy workflow, and be used to identify effective interventions to support pharmacists’ interface with e-prescribing technology and inform national pharmacy associations and policy makers about the appropriate role of health information technology in the community setting.

Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing)has been widely reported to improve safety, quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of the medication use process in community pharmacies. However, numerous anecdotal reports suggest that e-prescriptions present unintended prescribing errors that result in a significant time burden to pharmacists’ patient care activities. This project will be the first study to empirically and objectively characterize the interactions that pharmacists have with e-prescribing technology.