Intelligent prescription system combined with a national pharmacloud for geriatrics care

Introduction: The elderly are high risk for chronic diseases and multiple drug use–two problems that make geriatric medication use more complex; as a result, the possibility of duplicate prescriptions and drug interactions increase, affecting patient safety. The objective of this study was to develop an Intelligent Prescription System Combined with a National PharmaCloud for Geriatrics Care (IPSPcG) that can reduce the occurrence of duplicate prescriptions. Methods: The system was implemented in a teaching hospital in Taiwan. The IPSPcG consists of two major components: (1) the collection module and (2) Intelligent Knowledge-base Module. Data on medication prescription behaviors and medication-blocking rates were gathered from January 2015 to December 2017. Results: Overall, during the study period, the IPSPcG system included 39,678 prescriptions. Antihypertensive medications were included at the highest proportion (8962, 22.6%). The system changed physician’s prescription behavior (p < .001) and decreased potential duplicate prescription times (14%). Conclusion: The results of this study show that integrating appropriate recommendations from drug messages can reduce repeated drug prescriptions. Due to the diversity of diseases, the diversity and accuracy of medical advice must improve. The results of the ‘Comprehensive Prescription Information’ provided by this system can serve as a reference for future research.