Opinion of Personnel and Their Patients About Electronic Prescription in Kaunas City Public Health Care Institutions and Interfaces Towards Demographic Indicators and System Usage Peculiarities

Aim of the study. To explore the opinion of personnel and their patients about electronic prescription in Kaunas city public health care institutions and interfaces towards demographic indicators and system usage peculiarities. Objectives. 1. To evaluate the opinion of family physicians in Kaunas city public health care institutions about the electronic prescription. 2. To evaluate the opinion of family physicians’ patients in Kaunas city public health care institutions about electronic prescription. 3. To compare the opinion of family physicians and their patients in Kaunas city public health care institutions about electronic prescription. 4. To reveal the interfaces towards demographic indicators and system usage peculiarities of family physicians and their patients in Kaunas city public health care institutions. Methods. The object of research – opinion about electronic prescription. Research contingent – family physicians and their patients in Kaunas city public health care institutions. Data analysis was performed using the statistical package SPSS 22.0 for Windows (Eng. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and Microsoft Office Excel 2013 program for graphic display historical data. Results. The main aspects that determine which type of prescription will be prescribed by the doctor are the electronic prescribing system’s operational malfunctions as well as the patient’s wishes. The main problems with electronic recipe issuance system ate its slow functioning, strangulation, inconvenience in prescribing some drugs, increasing the likelihood of human errors and the impossibility of prescribing medicines specifically prepared for the patient. Approximately one third of patients are having trouble acquiring medicines by electronic prescription due to system disorders in pharmacies. In the opinion of patients, the electronic prescription system and the electronic recipe itself are not completely clear, although it is evident that the purchase of medicines by electronic prescription is convenient. Older physicians are more likely to notice a decrease in misunderstandings with pharmacies due to electronic prescriptions (r=0.226, p=0.048). Doctors with a higher level of computer literacy are more likely to identify the system as clear and comfortable, and their patients are less likely to refuse the electronic prescription (r=0.226, p=0.048). Patients with higher education more often do not abandon the prescribed electronic prescription (r=0.161, p<0.001), as well as those with a higher level of computer literacy (r=0.164, p<0.001). Patients who have higher education and who have a higher level of computer literacy more often asks a doctor for an electronic prescription (r=0,111, p=0,008 and r=0,231 respectively, p<0,001). A small proportion of patients use the possibility to receive an electronic recipe by contacting a doctor by phone, more often younger (r=-0.238) and with higher level of computer literacy (r=0.283) (p<0.05). Conclusions. 1. For doctors, the electronic prescription system is not clear enough and uncomfortable, and the e-prescription takes up more time than paper, so the patient's consultation time is shortened. Doctors often do not take the opportunity to monitor the availability of electronic prescriptions, while observers are usually physicians with lower professional experience and a higher level of computer literacy. 2. According to patients, an electronic recipe is a convenient way to buy prescription drugs, but the electronic prescription system itself is not completely clear to them. It has been disclosed that patients do not consider an electronic prescription to be an effective tool for providing more time for patient consulting. 3. The opinion of patients and doctors about the electronic recipe is similar - it is a convenient way to buy prescription medicines. Both groups of respondents agree that patients are not tend to give up a electronic prescription, but on their own initiative they are not inclined to ask for an electronic recipe instead of a paper recipe. Comparative negative feedback on the formation of the electronic recipe was influenced by the decreasing and, in some cases, increasing, frequent error rates and inefficient system operation. 4. Doctors with a higher level of computer literacy are more likely to identify the system as clear and comfortable, and their patients are less likely to refuse the electronic prescription. Patients with higher education are less likely to give up and prefer to have an electronic recipe as well as those with a higher level of computer literacy (p<0.05). The level of computer literacy is statistically significantly affecting patients' opinion about electronic prescribing in order to optimize the timing of drugs prescribing and patients’ consulting (p