EPMA and Pharmacists' communication - observational study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How have electronic prescribing and medication administration systems transformed pharmacists’ communication in an inpatient setting? A multi-site observational study
IRAS ID
249203
Contact name
Bryony Dean Franklin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2018/07/74, Data Protection Registration; 11927/003, UCL research ethics committee
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 2 days
Research summary
Patient care involves many different individuals who need to share information and discuss patients’ management for their benefit. As a consequence, there is a need to transfer information between individuals in a secure, clear and timely fashion. The objective of this study is to explore how pharmacists communicate with each other and other healthcare professionals in an inpatient setting and how electronic prescribing and medication administration systems may affect this. Hospital pharmacists will be invited to take part in a number of observations on general medical and surgical wards in three NHS hospital trusts. Two of the hospital trusts invited will have different electronic prescribing and medication administration systems and one hospital trust will have a paper-based prescribing system (e.g. paper drug charts). The observer, who is a trained pharmacist studying for her PhD, will follow the pharmacist and record the different communication exchanges that occur during their time on the ward. The observation will be recorded on a paper data collection form. The observer may ask the pharmacist to talk out loud when they are using the computer system or paper drug chart so the observer can record the pharmacists’ communication accurately on the data collection form. During the observation, field notes will also be collected on paper about any situations that cannot be collected using the data collection form. At the end of the observation, the observer may ask to discuss particular communication events with the pharmacist to explain details or explore their feelings about them (e.g. if it was noted by the observer that the pharmacist appeared frustrated while using the computer system during a communication event). This information will be recorded as part of the field notes. Through the observations of pharmacists, we hope to gain an insight into the benefits and challenges of these systems in practice. This study does not involve patients or collect any patient specific information.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
18/WS/0239
Date of REC Opinion
14 Dec 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion