Medical Electronic Prescription for Home Respiratory Care Services (PEM-CRD) at a Portuguese University Tertiary Care Centre (2014–2018): A Case Study

Ricardo Alves, Cátia Caneiras, Ana Isabel Santos, Patricia Barbosa, João Cardoso, Paulo Caseiro, Maria João Vitorino, João Pereira and Ana Escoval
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Ricardo Alves: National School of Public Health, Nova University Lisbon, 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal
Cátia Caneiras: Associação Portuguesa de Cuidados de Saúde ao Domicílio (APCSD), 1250-068 Lisbon, Portugal
Ana Isabel Santos: National School of Public Health, Nova University Lisbon, 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal
Patricia Barbosa: National School of Public Health, Nova University Lisbon, 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal
João Cardoso: Pulmonology Department, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisbon Central (CHULC), 1169-050 Lisbon, Portugal
Paulo Caseiro: Associação Portuguesa de Cuidados de Saúde ao Domicílio (APCSD), 1250-068 Lisbon, Portugal
Maria João Vitorino: Associação Portuguesa de Cuidados de Saúde ao Domicílio (APCSD), 1250-068 Lisbon, Portugal
João Pereira: National School of Public Health, Nova University Lisbon, 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal
Ana Escoval: National School of Public Health, Nova University Lisbon, 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-11

Abstract: Home respiratory care (HRC) is the provision of healthcare services at the place of residence of patients or their families, with the aim of meeting needs mainly resulting from chronic respiratory conditions, permanent disability, or terminal illness. In 2016, an innovative electronic prescription system, PEM-CRD, was fully implemented for HRC services in Portugal. To date, no study has addressed the impact of the execution of this digital innovation. For this purpose, we carried out an analysis of the prevalence and number of prescriptions for people with chronic respiratory diseases receiving HRC in the Lisbon metropolitan area, during 2014–2018, using the information obtained from the PEM-CRD database. The data analysis shows that while the number of patients receiving HRC treatment with a prescription has remained stable over the last four years, the number of prescriptions has significantly dropped since 2016 (2016–2018), with consequent paper and processes efficiency. The implementation of the digital Medical Electronic Prescription for Home Respiratory Care tool (PEM-CRD) and consequent dematerialization of these processes has increased the efficiency of prescribing in HRC. Additionally, the possibility of obtaining data through the PEM-CRD allows the monitoring of the evolving prevalence of therapies, improving the health services optimization and allowing reporting on data other than medicines.

Keywords: home respiratory care; long-term oxygen therapy; home mechanical ventilation (HMV); electronic prescription; digital transformation; sustainability reporting; sustainable digitalization; e-health; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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