Analysis of the impact of the implementation of electronic health records in the hospital pharmaceutical supply chain

Abstract

Health Information Technologies (HIT) play an important role in supporting decisions making, health care delivery, and management of health services. In recent years, new technologies have emerged in this field, such as ePrescribing, Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA), electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR), Automated Drug Management Systems, etc. It is said that the development of these new technologies will be catalysed by the implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR), systems that have begun to implement in many countries, including Belgium. Once introduced into Health Information Technologies (HIT), the aim of this project is, at first, to describe Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems and study its impact on the healthcare system, as well as its maturity. The scope of our study was Belgium even though we extended our analysis to European countries as well as North America where EHR systems are mature. Secondly, the purpose is to analyse how the digitalization of information by using these new technologies could impact and improve pharmaceutical supply chain in hospitals. Finally, based on the findings from our research, a roadmap for Electronic Health Records (EHRs) implementation in a hospital is presented.