Patient Summary and medicines reconciliation: application of the ISO/CEN EN 13606 standard in clinical practice.

The comparison of the patient's current medication list with the medication being ordered when admitted to Hospital, identifying omissions, duplications, dosing errors, and potential interactions, constitutes the core process of medicines reconciliation. Access to the medication the patient is taking at home could be unfeasible as this information is frequently stored in various locations and in diverse proprietary formats. The lack of interoperability between those information systems, namely the Primary Care and the Specialized Electronic Health Records (EHRs), facilitates medication errors and endangers patient safety.

Implementation of SNOMED CT to the medicines database of a general hospital.

A concept-based terminology that covers all features of healthcare is essential for the development of an Electronic Health Record (EHR). Since a significant percentage of the EHR can be drug related information, we decided to implement the controlled drug terminology provided by SNOMED CT to achieve the potential benefit to promote Patient Safety that a fully functional pharmacy system can offer. One of the expected advantages of our Project is to establish a bridge between reference terminology and the drug knowledge databases.

Fungal chemoprophylaxis with fluconazole in preterm infants.

Introduction: To describe the establishment of a fungal chemoprophylaxis protocol in very low birth weight infants (VLBW). To asses safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of fluconazole administration to these patients.

Method: According to published scientific evidence (search on MEDLINE 1994-2001) inclusion criteria for the protocol were defined: gestational age <28 weeks and birth weight <1500 g.