The introduction of an antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) program is associated with a change in antimicrobial prescribing behavior. A proposed mechanism for this change is by impacting the prescribing etiquette described in qualitative studies. This study sought to detect a change in prescribing attitudes 12 months after the introduction of AMS and gauge utility of various AMS interventions. Surv...

rational prescribing increases the quality of health care and patient outcomes. in this study, the quality of drug prescription in specialist physicians in isfahan province of iran was assessed for evaluating the rational use of drugs and improving the therapeutic outcomes.this retrospective survey was conducted on a total of 7999530 prescriptions from all general and specialist physicians. the...

background and purpose: rational use of drugs remains a problem in iran. polypharmacy, overuse of antibiotic, misuse and overuse of injections, short consulting time and poor patient compliance are common patterns of irrational use of drugs in eastern azarbydjan - iran. concerning the promotion of rational use of drugs, this study aimed the effect of educational intervention as interactive grou...

Policies and interventions in the health-care system may have a wide range of effects on multiple patient outcomes and operate through many clinical processes. This presents a challenge for their evaluation, especially when the effect on any one patient is small. In this essay, we explore the nature of the health-care system and discuss how the empirical evidence produced within it relates to t...

The move from paper to electronic prescribing (EP) and medicine administration systems has long been advocated. Initial studies in the adult setting showed a significant reduction in medication errors. However, there are additional challenges to overcome to tailor these systems to paediatrics. Building on the basic elements of EP with the development of customised paediatric clinical decision s...

This study empirically examines the effect of hospital competition on prescribing behaviors of oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs) for ambulatory care in a market setting where hospitals are classified into three levels according to the Taiwanese accreditation system. Without distinguishing the types of market structures and hospital levels, there might be no significant relationship between hospit...

BACKGROUND Inappropriate medication use in elderly patients has been linked to a large share of adverse drug reactions and to excess health care utilization. METHODS Trends in the prevalence of potentially inappropriate drug prescribing at ambulatory care visits by elderly persons from 1995 to 2000 were examined with data from office-based physicians in the National Ambulatory Medical Care Su...

Retail pharmacies in developing countries are one of the most important sources of advice on pharmaceuticals. Among the reasons the clients give are ease of access; availability of medicines; quality of service (no waiting and convenient hours of operation); and cheaper products, availability of credit, or the option to buy drugs in small amounts. However, the appropriateness of prescribing by ...