Currently, approximately 50 vendors market software packages for use as pharmacy information systems. These systems are the heart and backbone of pharmacy operations, providing order entry, clinical support, drug utilization review, reporting, safety enhancements, and other operational support tools. I believe this is one of the most mature segments of pharmacy technology. However, still a great deal of room to grow. It is no secret that most of the attention in this field has been on integration and electronic prescribing. Safety, efficiency, and productivity gains have been associated with "e-prescribing". As a result, the need for integrated products has never been greater. When I say integrated products, I mean one software package that resides at the pharmacy and at the provider's office (no interface, just seamless communication). This is of course still far off, but CPOE (computerized provider order entry) is an area of recent focus. Many healthcare organizations are investing in CPOE systems in the hopes of providing more safety and efficiency to medication prescribing. From a pharmacy perspective, this takes the data entry portion and possibility for transcription error out of the picture. Both inpatient and outpatient systems are available from a number of vendors. The main questions for the pharmacy purchaser should be features, support, future integration capabilities, and maintenance costs. There is a long list of vendors here, but I will attempt to compile a list:
Inpatient:
Meditech
Horizon Medication Manager