Outpatient Prescription Writing for Pediatric Patients

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Marina Rabin
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Joined: 12/10/2018 - 13:49
Outpatient Prescription Writing for Pediatric Patients

As you all know most CPOE for outpatient prescription writing out there are designed for adults(anything pediatric is always a custom job and is very expensive and takes long to build). Some systems are more intuitive than others in adapting pediatric order writing to accommodate mg/kg/dose and/or need for weights and instructions for more complex compounds. Others...not so much.

To circumvent shortcomings of the software, hospitals have policies for outpatient prescription writing that mandate certain things to be on the outpatient prescription, but those policies(in my experience) are also limited to what state/federal law requires only, leaving peds (once again) without much needed format for error-free and timely prescription filling at their local community pharmacy.

Incomplete outpatient prescriptions lead to delays, med errors and consequently readmissions in many cases.
I was wondering how hospitals address outpatient prescription writing for pediatric patients. What policies do you have? What software? Are you willing to share?
Thank you.