The state of electronic prescriptions in India, and what the players: doctors, regulatory authorities and patients are doing about it
In a recent twitter poll, we asked patients what they wished their prescriptions had. Though we were biased (obviously, “Legibility”), the results came out in favour of “Clear Instructions”.
The poll was conducted as part of a series of awareness drives we are conducting. In HealthCare IT, patients are an important cog, and they should know if they are getting the care they are supposed to get and if it is in accordance with the regulatory guidelines.
You might have noticed that no two prescriptions are alike, especially if they are from different doctors. Is there a lack of regulations, or is there a lack of compliance to regulations amongst doctors, or, are patients not aware of what they are entitled to? A mix of all.
Medical Council of India (MCI) recommends a standard format for prescription, which the state councils or government bodies pick up, and recommend their own format. For example, based on MCI’s format, Maharashtra State Food & Drug Administration mandated a prescription format.
Yeah, you-wont-believe-the-number-of-things-needed-in-a-prescription format. It is way too detailed; so detailed that patients would love, and the doctors would dread.
It would take about eight minutes for the doctor to handwrite one prescription, adhering to this format. A doctor generally spends four minutes at max, to
- welcome a patient; exchange pleasantries(!)
- glance progress via investigative reports
- check the day’s vital numbers
- decide the continuing medication
- prescribe medicines
Item #5 hardly gets 20–30 seconds. Comparing with the 8 minutes it takes, there is a huge gap.
Can we blame the doctor for not providing prescription in the recommended format? Can we blame the patient for not knowing what all to expect in a prescription? Can we blame the government agency for mandating a complex format even for a regular-visit prescription? None of the above.
Such complex (or mundane, based on perspective) work has to be automated, and the task of adhering to standards should be solved systemmatically. Software that creates prescription at the end of a workflow should solve this problem. Does such software exist? Yes, there are many. Why aren’t doctors using them? Because such software looks, feels & works like it is made for stone age. And it takes more time to electronically create prescription, than to simply handwrite it :)
We should blame the people who made the software that is stuck in 19-th century, assuming that doctors have all the time and motivation in the world to “electronically record prescriptions”. Doctors don’t have the time, and there are no regulatory/market forces that push them to change to electronic prescriptions.
Unless there is a solution that cuts the time by half, to 15 seconds, while adhering to the regulatory guidelines, there is no need for doctors to upgrade/update.
Electronic doesn’t mean printouts. It should be an output of a strong process, that eases doctor’s work.
Enter SlashDr.
It turns real prescriptions like this…..
into this….. Under 15-seconds? You bet.
Oh yes, our prescriptions are multi-lingual.
How? Contact us please. gokul at slashdr dot com, or fill this form: https://slashdr.typeform.com/to/oNw5wC. We will reach out to you.
