April 29, 2022
What are Electronic Medication Safety Notifications?
Improving patient safety is one of the most effective ways to add value to your healthcare organization as the industry moves towards a consumer-centric healthcare model. Improving patient safety can help improve patient outcomes and reduce operating costs. One way to help do this is by implementing electronic medication safety notifications.
Electronic medication safety notifications are digital alerts that are delivered to the pharmacy management systems at the point of dispense. These digital alerts are delivered on behalf of the drug manufacturers to pharmacists.
Drug manufacturers create alerts for many different reasons, including FDA actions. Some of the common alerts from the FDA include:
- Temporary drug recall
- Permanent drug recall from the market
- New safety warnings for users
Drug manufacturers can send alerts aside from FDA mandates. The drug manufacturers are most likely to learn about any potential issues before anyone else and are able to send electronic medication safety notifications to alert pharmacists. Common concerns often include:
- Contraindications with other medications
- Contraindications for use at a certain age, or gender
- Storage or supply issues
- Formulation change
- National Drug Code (NDC) change
- Severe side effects
Implementing electronic medication safety notifications can be an easier way to alert your pharmacists of potential problems with medications. These digital notifications can help improve patient outcomes.