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PHARMACY INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Pharmacy information systems (PIS) are complex computer
systems that have been designed to meet the needs of a pharmacy department.
Through the use of such systems, pharmacists can supervise and have inputs on
how medication is used in a hospital.
Some of the activities which Pharmacy Information Systems have been employed in
pharmacy departments include:
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Clinical Screening: The Pharmacy Information System can assist in patient care by the monitoring of
drug interactions, drug allergies and other possible medication-related
complications.
When a prescription order is
entered, the system can check to see if there are any interactions between two
or more drugs taken by the patient simultaneously or with any typical food, any
known allergies to the drug, and if the appropriate dosage has been given based
on the patient’s age, weight and other physiologic factors. Alerts and flags
come up when the system picks up any of these.
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Prescription Management: The Pharmacy Information System can also be use to mange prescription for
inpatients and/or outpatients. When prescription orders are received, the
orders are matched to available pharmaceutical products and then dispensed
accordingly depending on whether the patient is an inpatient or outpatient.
It is possible to track all
prescriptions passed through the system from who prescribed the drug, when it
was prescribed to when it was dispensed.
It is also possible to print out
prescription labels and instructions on how medication should be taken based on
the prescription.
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Inventory Management: Pharmacies require a continuous inventory culture in
order to ensure that drugs do not go out of stock. This is made even more
difficult when there are multiple dispensing points. When don manually it is
very difficult to maintain an accurate inventory.
Pharmacy Information Systems aid inventory management by
maintaining an internal inventory of all pharmaceutical products, providing
alerts when the quantity of an item is below a set quantity and providing an
electronic ordering system that recommends the ordering of the affected item
and with the appropriate quantity from approved suppliers.
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Patient Drug Profiles: These are patient profiles managed by the Pharmacy Information
System and
contain details of their current and past medications, known allergies and
physiological parameters. These profiles are used for used for clinical
screening anytime a prescription is ordered for the patient.
- Report Generation: Most Pharmacy Information Systems can generate reports which range from determining
medication usage patterns in the hospital to the cost of drugs purchased and
/or dispensed.
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Interactivity with other systems: It is important that Pharmacy Information Systems
should be able to
interact with other available systems such as the clinical information systems
to receive prescription orders and financial information system for billing and
charging.
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