Using health smart cards to check drug allergy history: the perspective from Taiwan's experiences.
In Taiwan, national health insurance coverage began in 1994, and the Bureau of National Health Insurance has issued health smart cards since 2004. In addition to tracking medical reimbursements, these smart cards store healthcare information, including electronic prescriptions, medical procedure and vaccination records, drug allergy histories, and information about a patient's willingness to be an organ donor. We conducted this study 4 years after the smart cards had been introduced in order to review how drug allergy history is recorded using this system. Our results reveal that the drug allergy histories are incomplete in many cases, and the format used to record a patient's drug allergy history is not consistent. We offer suggestions to promote the standardization of drug allergy history records.
Hsu
Min-Huei
MH
Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yen
Ju-Chuan
JC
Chiu
Wen-Ta
WT
Tsai
Shu-Ling
SL
Liu
Chien-Tsai
CT
Li
Yu-Chuan
YC
D004342:Drug Hypersensitivity; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013624:Taiwan