title: An information system for drug prescription and distribution in a public hospital.
abstract: With 773 beds and 3696 employees, the Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (HCFMRP)-Universidade de São Paulo, is one of the largest medical institutions in Latin America. The complete process of prescribing and distributing medication at HCFMRP involves the following stages: prescribing (physicians); ordering (infirmary); separating and dispensing (main drugstore); verifying and administering (infirmary). This was a manual process, normally taking place in the morning. Bottlenecks were inevitable and the risk of errors was elevated. An information system (IS) was devised and implemented with a view to controlling such problems. This article addresses the construction of this system and reports on a survey in which different groups of users have evaluated the project.
authors.affiliation: School of Economy and Business Administration, University of São Paulo, 3900 Bandeirantes Avenue, Ribeirão Preto-SP, Brazil. alcosta@usp.br
authors.forename: André Lucirton
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Márcio Mattos Borges
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Roseli de Oliveira
authors.initials: Rde O
authors.lastname: Machado
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008510:Medication Systems, Hospital; D019982:Organizational Case Studies