BACKGROUND Statin prescribing to prevent coronary heart disease is well below recommended levels. Studies suggest that the prescribing behaviour of doctors may be the biggest factor in the wide variation in statin prescribing in general practice. Understanding doctors' perceptions offers some insight into why variation occurs. AIM To understand general practitioners' (GPs') views about barrie...

BACKGROUND Medication error is an important contributor to patient morbidity and mortality and is associated with inadequate patient safety measures. However, prescribing-safety tools specifically designed for use in general practice are lacking. AIM To identify and update a set of prescribing-safety indicators for assessing the safety of prescribing in general practice, and to estimate the r...

OBJECTIVE We reported previously the results of a 6-month controlled trial in which the use of a commercially available electronic prescribing system with integrated clinical decision support and evidence-based message capability was associated with significantly lower primary care drug costs. The original study focused on new prescriptions, defined as claims for a medication that the patient h...

BACKGROUND Electronic prescribing is increasingly being used in primary care and in hospitals. Studies on the effects of e-prescribing systems have found evidence for both benefit and harm. The aim of this study was to identify features of e-prescribing software systems that support patient safety and quality of care and that are useful to the clinician and the patient, with a focus on improvin...

The way in which data on the prescribing of drugs by doctors in Northern Ireland has been collected and analysed with the aid of electronic data processing equipment which was first installed in 1966 has been described by Wade and Hood (1972). The present paper describes changes in Northern Ireland in the prescribing of chloramphenicol, amphetamines, and bronchodilator aerosols, all of which ar...

OBJECTIVE We conducted a systematic review identifying users groups' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to implementing electronic prescription (e-prescribing) in primary care. METHODS We included studies following these criteria: presence of an empirical design, focus on the users' experience of e-prescribing implementation, conducted in primary care, and providing data on barriers and...

o bjectives: cases of antimicrobial resistance are increasing, partly due to inappropriate prescribing practices by dentists. the purpose of this study was to investigate the prescrib- ing practices and knowledge of dentists with regards to antibiotics. moreover, this study aimed to determine whether the prescriptions comply with the recommended guidelines and whether clinical audit can alter t...

Background Methotrexate (MTX) is the most commonly prescribed disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) in rheumatoid arthritis, as well being frequently used other rheumatic conditions. Having been discovered 1948 1 , its use established and toxicity profile recognised. In rheumatology setting, it a once weekly dosing regimen. However, despite experience of MTX, there still remains concern ...