title: Case report: activity diagrams for integrating electronic prescribing tools into clinical workflow.
abstract: To facilitate the future implementation of an electronic prescribing system, this case study modeled prescription management processes in various primary care settings. The Vanderbilt e-prescribing design team conducted initial interviews with clinic managers, physicians and nurses, and then represented the sequences of steps carried out to complete prescriptions in activity diagrams. The diagrams covered outpatient prescribing for patients during a clinic visit and between clinic visits. Practice size, practice setting, and practice specialty type influenced the prescribing processes used. The model developed may be useful to others engaged in building or tailoring an e-prescribing system to meet the specific workflows of various clinic settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, Eskind Biomedical Library, Room 402, 2209 Garland Avenue, Nashville, TN 37232-8340, USA. kevin.johnson@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Kevin B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Fern
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fitzhenry
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D006801:Humans; D050316:Medical Order Entry Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017146:Models, Organizational; D012985:Software Design; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis