When prescribing or retailing medications to patients, one of the premiere concerns of both pharmacists and doctors is the possibility of a drug interaction. In simple terms, a drug interaction is the result of a patient experiencing symptoms or side effects due to the interaction between the ingredients of two or more medicines. Historically, both pharmacists and doctors kept vast personal records of their patients in order to prevent this mishap from occurring. However, in more modern times, medical practitioners across the board, more specifically pharmacists, have relied on computers to track the majority of these drug interactions, simplifying their task.
Today, medicines are being prescribed to patients by doctors at record higher rates in the United States than ever before. The variety of professions that are able to prescribe medications has increased significantly. To further complicate matters, the amount and variety of drugs available at pharmacies are also at historical highs. These circumstances will inevitably lead to situations in which a doctor, pharmacist, nurse practitioner or physician assistant may unknowingly prescribe a medicine that somehow interferes with another medicine which the patient is already receiving. Computers were first introduced into the world of pharmacy in 1974, and since 1983, wide usage of computers had began to help eradicate this possible mistake.
When a patient's medication may possibly interfere with another medication they are currently taking, most computers utilized by modern chain pharmacies have the ability to indicate a DUR, which is a situation in which the computer is requesting the supervising pharmacist to review the their decision to dispense the drug to the patient...
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...es to utilize technology that is as up-to-date as the rest of the medical field. It would greatly reduce the possibility of error if doctors, physician's assistants, and other prescribing practitioners also developed better methods, such as the DUR model already incorporated by pharmacies. Doing so would create a greater efficiency in prescribing and dispensing the correct medications and greatly influence the efficacy of medicine without creating any drug interactions.
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