title: A nationwide computerized patient medication history: evaluation of the Austrian pilot project "e-Medikation".
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To manage medication treatment and to assure medication safety, health care professionals need a complete overview of all drugs that have been prescribed or are taken by a patient. In 2009, Austria launched the pilot project "e-Medikation" in three pilot regions. E-Medikation gives access to a patient's nationwide medication list and includes medication safety checks. The objective of this paper is to report on the evaluation results and lessons learnt.
  
  
  METHODS
  A formative evaluation study performed between July and December 2011 comprised a standardized survey of participating physicians, pharmacists, and patients, as well as an analysis of the e-Medikation log files.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the evaluation period, 18,310 prescriptions and 13,797 dispensings were documented, and 22,359 medication safety checks were performed. Overall, 61 physicians, 68 pharmacists, and 553 patients responded to a written survey. The results showed high acceptance of the idea of e-Medikation among pharmacists and patients and mixed acceptance among physicians. The satisfaction with the quality of the software used in the pilot project was low.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overall aim to increase medication safety seems achievable through e-Medikation, but several limitations of the pilot project need to be solved before a national rollout. Based on the evaluation results and after redesign of e-Medikation, Austria is now planning a nationwide introduction of e-Medikation starting in 2015.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Informatics, UMIT - University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Austria. Electronic address: elske.ammenwerth@umit.at.
authors.forename: Elske
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ammenwerth
authors.affiliation: Section for Medical Information Management and Imaging, Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Duftschmid
authors.affiliation: Section for Medical Information Management and Imaging, Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gall
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Informatics, UMIT - University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Austria.
authors.forename: Werner O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Hackl
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Informatics, UMIT - University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoerbst
authors.affiliation: Section for Medical Information Management and Imaging, Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Janzek-Hawlat
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy Department, Innsbruck University Hospital, Austria.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jeske
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Informatics, UMIT - University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Austria.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Informatics, UMIT - University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Austria.
authors.forename: Klemens
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Woertz
authors.affiliation: Section for Medical Information Management and Imaging, Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dorda
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D050316:Medical Order Entry Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000523:psychology*; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Electronic health records; Evaluation studies; Medical order entry systems; Medication reconciliation; Patient safety; Pharmacy services; Prescriptions