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Background: The eHealth Action Plan required the member states of the European Union (EU) to provide online services such as eprescribing of pharmaceuticals by the end of 2008. So far, implementation activities and efforts of the member states have been uneven. While in Austria pilot projects and feasibility studies have been conducted, Sweden has always been one of the leading countries in the field of eprescribing. Objective: To identify potential success factors for the implementation of eprescribing in Sweden, by comparing the attitudes of Austrian and Swedish physicians. Method: In a Web survey, we asked 1824 Austrian and 427 Swedish physicians within primary care and other disciplines to declare to what extent they agreed with ten statements regarding their attitudes towards eprescribing. We deployed the chi-square test for testing the relationship between the country of residence of physicians and their attitudes towards eprescribing. Results: We demonstrated a relationship between the country of residence of physicians and their attitudes towards eprescribing (P<0.001) for all the responses. Of the Swedish physicians, 92% regarded eprescribing as time-saving, 88.1% as being safer and 96.0%as providing a better service for patients. Although less strongly supportive, the attitudes of the Austrian physicians were mainly positive. Conclusion: We found that the major potential success factors for the implementation of eprescribing in Sweden were saving of time for the physician, improved safety and better service for patients. The mainly positive attitudes of the Austrian physicians may enable implementation of eprescribing in due course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The internet is increasingly used for health matters, including consulting a doctor. Primary care physicians (general practitioners) will probably be involved in performing text-based consultations on the internet as a complement to physical meetings. In the present study, we explored the experiences of GPs already performing consultations on the internet: the challenges, worries and educational demands of the task. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was given to 21 GPs performing consultations on the internet for a public, non-commercial 'ask the doctor' service. The questionnaire was carried out at a meeting or sent by mail. The doctors answered a total of 28 questions, 12 of which included graded alternatives. RESULTS: The participating GPs were stimulated and challenged by performing consultations on the internet with previously unknown enquirers, in spite of limitations caused by the lack of personal meetings and physical examinations. The participants experienced a high educational value as a result of the problem-based learning situation induced by unfamiliar questions. The asynchronous feature was appreciated as it allowed time to reflect and perform relevant information searches before replying. Prior training and long-term experience as a family doctor were recommended before embarking on this method of consultation. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the GPs studied experienced their new role as internet doctors mainly in a positive way, with some limitations. With the increase in consultations on the internet, training in this technique should be integrated into the curricula of medical schools and of continuous professional development (CPD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incorrect use of medications may result from improper prescribing. The poor interface and design of computerised physician order entry (CPOE) systems may contribute. To improve the quality of electronic drug prescription, ePrescribing, there is a need for an evaluation model that is able to assess the quality of the CPOE, focusing on usability., Objective: To develop and apply a model to evaluate the usability of different CPOEs used for ePrescribing in electronic health records (EHRs) in primary care., Method: An evaluation model for CPOEs was designed by assembling existing quality criteria for ePrescribing, supplemented with new criteria. The evaluation model was used to assess CPOEs from seven EHRs in primary care., Results: The evaluation model included five categories comprising 73 single criteria. The model was found to be easy to use, and facilitated the assessment process. Evaluation of the EHRs revealed differences and similarities between the systems. None of the CPOEs was perfect in that all of them had distinct shortcomings. The most prominent deficiencies were a non-intuitive interface and incorrect dosage function., Conclusion: The model developed might be used not only to evaluate usability in ePrescribing, but also as a basis for studying the usability of other CPOEs. To reduce the risk of drugs being prescribed with incorrect dosages, the most urgent improvement is the development of a more consistent and intuitive interface for the EHRs and an improvement in the dosage function.