Dental solo practices sit at the nexus of ongoing evolution of the health technology landscape—when and how to apply new technology, such as e-Prescription software. This same system, designed to put the prescription process on the web, offers a wide range of benefits along with a wide range of problems. Small practices, in which investments must be stringently justified, may be of interest in exploring the impact of the e-Prescription software (ES). Let’s discuss the practicality, benefits, and problems in order to help you decide if this technology is a good spend for your dental practice.
The Rise of E-Prescription in Healthcare
The transition from paper to digital in prescription management has been a cornerstone of a larger trend toward electronic health records (EHRs) across the medical community. E-Prescription software is a computerised prescription for drugs that interconnects dentists and pharmacies using secure, electronic, prescribing networks. This technology has been adopted in a variety of technical medical settings due to its efficiency and compliance benefits. However, for those small dental practices in which the number of prescriptions could be small, the decision to purchase such a system is not always straightforward.
The use of e-Prescription systems has been promoted both through regulations and as a supporter of health, safety and quality, as care and safe management. When confronted by changing legal frameworks, which now (or can) require prescriptions to be electronic for a subset of drugs, dental practices are required to provide digital solutions that will allow the prescription to be observed. In particular, in the light of the increasing awareness of patients’ risk of medication errors, together with the desire for accurate, compromising prescriptions, the relevance of e-Prescription systems becomes more evident now more than ever.
Efficiency and Workflow Improvements
Another of the most appealing aspects of e-Prescription software is the ability to save significant amounts of time. In a busy dental clinic, where time translates directly into how many patients can be seen, automating prescription processes can free up considerable amounts of administrative time. If in the traditional way, the prescriptions are filled up manually, aside from the time-consuming sequence, it is a high-error job. E-Prescription systems avoid this through dentists being able to enter prescriptions on a computer or mobile, and then transmitting directly to the pharmacy of choice of the patient.
The fact that such systems are also typically equipped with features such as drug interaction verification, allergy warnings and dosing recommendations, is a further disadvantage. In addition to speeding up the workflow, it also leads to improved quality of care by reducing the chances of inappropriate drug reactions. In small clinics, where staff have many hats, a system with many tasks “under one roof” can be a real game changer, freeing up staff from having to manage all these tasks and helping them take patient care to a new level rather than spending time on paperwork.
Enhancing Patient Safety and Care
Even for routine procedures like dental clean and checkups, where dentists might recommend over-the-counter pain relief or oral health products, e-prescription software can play a role in enhancing patient safety and care. These are the systems that can be used to detect potential drug interactions from the patient’s list of drugs in oral form, which is an extremely useful tool in a dental setting, where it can be impossible for patients to disclose the entire drugs they are indeed consuming. In the situation where a full medication history can be used the dentist is then able, with experience, to make educated decisions that can, in turn, be used to avoid potentially harmful drug interactions.
Additionally, implementation of clinical decision support in e-Prescription systems is used as a strategy to assist in promoting adherence to evidence-based pharmacotherapy. E.g., in interactions with a patient in case of an allergy to one of the drug ingredients, the system may be used to warn the dentist and consequently to select a safer substitute. The degree of specificity in dental treatment to patients can elevate the status of a clinic, lend it confidence to seek dental treatment, for smaller practices, increase the number of patients who seek dental care.
Compliance and Legal Advantages
Adherence to health and accompanying rules is also one of the fields in which e-Prescription software can contribute. There is an urgent demand for electronic dispensing, particularly controlled pharmaceuticals, with a view to reducing misuse and enhancing control in much of the world. Compliance with these laws is not voluntary practice for dental clinics which are dispensing post-procedural analgesia. E-Prescription software, however, ensures secure transfer, storage, and the legal requirements of prescriptions.
Beyond legal compliance, the implementation of e-Prescription may contribute to the establishment of good records and documentation, which may not be negligible even in the worst-case scenarios like audit or inquisitorial purposes. With the awareness of traceability of, and transparency in electronic prescriptions, it is possible to safeguard the practices against possible malpractice claims due to drugs errors by offering a defined and maintained history on who has prescribed what and when.
Cost Considerations and ROI
There cannot be a blind spot for finances in e-Prescription software. Small dental clinical practices spend more than the licence fee itself on capital outlay and includes what it may cost to purchase and integrate hardware, and staff training. Subscription models might offer a more manageable approach to costs, but even then, the return on investment (ROI) needs to be clear.
Nevertheless, the sustained cost savings, brought about by decreased administrative costs, decreased error rates further reducing the need for rework or correction, and possible decreases in liability insurance based on errors, can justify the cost of the investment. Furthermore, if the clinic is able to leverage the gain in productivity to accommodate seeing more patients or offer more service, the clinic will generate more revenue. It’s about balancing the upfront costs with the expected benefits over time, considering both tangible and intangible returns.
Challenges and Considerations
Despite the advantages, there are hurdles. Seamless integration with current practice management software is difficult (and, in fact, almost always) uneconomical to achieve in a way that would not compromise connectivity. A staff learning curve can also temporarily interrupt the workflow, requiring patience and possibly even temporary productivity decreases.
Security is another critical consideration. Data now is increasingly accessible on the internet and therefore it is of extreme importance that the e-Prescription system complies with data protection legislation, e.g., HIPAA in the U.S. or GDPR in EU. The software vendor security practices of the clinic will require an audit by the clinic, and the clinic will have to plan for making cybersecurity investments, such as encryption, that sustain security and guard the security of the protected data backup.
Conclusion: Making the Decision
Therefore, the use of e-Prescription software by small dental practices is a trade-off between the well definition of the patients´ needs, current workflow constraints, and the future vertical extension of the system. If a practice has to deal with high volume of prescriptions, wants to grow the volume of prescriptions, or wants to improve the patient safety and adherence, then the cost may be perfectly justifiable.
However, it is necessary to start with a pilot or stepwise study, even if incorporating some part of the system in part of the practice before an all encompassing implementation to assess its effect. Advice from the change itself, from software vendors on the malleability and management of change, and even to an external consultant to conduct a technology check will be able to provide the basis to make the decision.
Indeed, though e-Prescription software may adapt a single Doctor dental practice to operate, e-Prescription software is a solution never in isolation. The key is to align technology with unique needs of your practice in a practical manner, that it is of value to your patients, and that it helps make your workflow and regulatory compliance easier.
