An Applied Review Model of Electronic Prescription System in ‎Developed Countries

Introduction: Electronic prescription system as a sample of multidisciplinary, socio-technical information systems has numerous complexities, various users and subsystems. Therefore, the present article is developed with the purpose of reviewing the national models of electronic prescription systems in some selected countries. 

Methods: This comparative reviewing study describes the electronic prescription system models in a number of EU countries (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and the UK) and the US. Data related to the prescription system were extracted through searching the keywords related to electronic prescription along with the names of the countries in search engines and the related data bases, as well as visiting the websites concerned with electronic prescription system of each country. Next, the gathered data were entered on the data collection form. Data analysis was performed using a descriptive-comparative analysis method.

Results: Electronic prescription system in the countries under study covers the whole prescription process or a major part of it; and the models used in the system varied in different countries and even within the same country. Also, the electronic prescription system in the four European countries under study had centralized architecture and national database of electronic prescription system, but the US applied a decentralized and diffused architecture for this system. 

Conclusion: Based on the experiences obtained from reviewing of the leading countries in the field of implementation of electronic prescription system, this system should be part of national health care infrastructure and the necessary platform should be provided for a safe and secure electronic transmission of prescriptions between the prescribers and the dispensers.