Winnipeg authority looks to digitize prescriptions

The regional health authority in Winnipeg is consideringa computerized system across the city that would eliminate the need for doctors to write prescriptions by hand.

A recent study by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority found that 30 per cent of handwritten doctors' prescriptions looked at contained unclear symbols and abbreviations. One per cent of theprescription scripts were entirely illegible.

Joseph Yuen has seen a lot of prescriptions that resemble chicken scratches at his Winnipeg pharmacy.

"You have to phone to verify the order, what the drug was, and the dosage," Yuen said. "Penmanship is not one of the courses in the medical college."

About 600 Canadians die every year from medication-related problems that could have been prevented.

And that's why Lora Jaye Gray studied the problem for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

"We're trying to make the system standardized so that it's easier for people to do the right thing and not miscommunicate. Because miscommunication is what leads to errors," Gray said.

The provincial government, under its E-Health strategy, hopes to implement an electronic medication ordering system intended to put an end to problems caused by the handwriting of doctors.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, however,isassessing whether it can put a program of its own in place across the city.

"Our priority is and always has been to take the necessary time to make all the changes required," said Winnipeg Regional Health Authority spokesperson Heidi Graham.

"And if we can't make those changes to meet our needs, then it's not going to be implemented and we'll just wait until the Manitoba E-Health process is in place."

Some small-scale computerized systems have already been introduced at St. Boniface Hospital and the Health Sciences Centre.

Studies show this can reduce adverse drug reactions by 40 per cent, and prescribing errors by more than 60 per cent.