Benefits of health care information systems

Health care expenditure has increased strongly in Finland and many other Western countries over the past few decades. As a significant proportion of healthcare costs is paid out of public funds, policy-makers have sought ways to improve the cost-effectiveness and quality of healthcare services. Electronic systems have been seen as a key to improving quality, efficiency and continuity of care in health care services as well as reducing costs over the long term.

In this research project, we assess the benefits of electronic information systems and, in particular, electronic prescriptions from several perspectives. Electronic prescriptions can be expected to support the management of pharmacotherapy as a whole, reduce medication errors and reduce overlapping medication. The project focuses on three research themes. Firstly, we examine the effects of electronic prescriptions on hospital visits due to medication errors and/or overlapping medication. Secondly, the study examines the impact of electronic prescriptions on prescriptions and repeat prescriptions for narcotics and drugs affecting the central nervous system. The third objective is, based on changes in available patient data, to model the impact of electronic prescriptions on physicians’ behaviour and the occurrence of pharmaceutical errors.

Partners: University of Turku, University of Jyväskylä, University of Missouri

Responsible researcher: Tanja Saxell, [email protected], +358 295 519 460