Safety of medication therapies in the family practice

 Background

Since 2006, one of the main objectives of the recommendations made by the European Council for improving patient safety and one of the most important work areas of the 'Patient safety action alliance' has been an increase in medication safety.

Electronic systems for the safe prescription of medications can make a significant contribution towards raising their safety. However, the large number of different electronic patient documentation systems in Germany make it difficult to bring together necessary clinical and pharmacological information for individual patients in any sensible way. Software and medication information requirements must be oriented along the lines of an overall concept. In several countries outside Germany, specific requirement profiles for such an overall concept for the electronic prescription of medications in ambulant care have already been prepared. In Germany, however, such a requirement profile and an overview of scientifically well-founded individual measures are lacking. In this respect it is important that the main users of such a system - the certified physicians - are included in any considerations, so that practice-relevant and economical solutions can be found.

Against this background, the Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians has commissioned our Institute to develop a specifications sheet for software requirements for medical practices that takes the safety of medication therapies into account, as well as a brochure on the safety of medication therapies in private practices. On the basis of a systematic literature research, concepts and measures for increasing medication safety when prescriptions are generated electronically using medical practice software are to be identified and evaluated with regard to their practicability, effectiveness and efficiency for use in German ambulant health care. In addition, the urgency of the problems for general practice will be determined in three to four focus groups made up of certified physicians in private practice with differing specialist areas, and analysed in a workshop along with practice software system providers (system houses) for their development costs and feasibility. On the basis of the results, a systematic catalogue of measures will be developed (reflecting effectiveness, feasibility and priorities from the end-user perspective).

 Duration

01.11.2009 - 30.11.2010

 Results

Results [link]

 Contact