Prescription and dispensing guidelines in Lebanon: initiative of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon
Background In Lebanon, difficulties in accessing medications are due to two main barriers, mainly: high cost and the lack of medication safety, related to poor-quality (irrational) prescription and use. The objective of this work is to suggest guidelines to implement a unified medical prescription i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2020-12-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40545-020-00273-9 |
| _version_ | 1797401313417363456 |
|---|---|
| author | Aline Hajj Hala Sacre Souheil Hallit Rony M. Zeenny Georges Sili Pascale Salameh |
| author_facet | Aline Hajj Hala Sacre Souheil Hallit Rony M. Zeenny Georges Sili Pascale Salameh |
| author_sort | Aline Hajj |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background In Lebanon, difficulties in accessing medications are due to two main barriers, mainly: high cost and the lack of medication safety, related to poor-quality (irrational) prescription and use. The objective of this work is to suggest guidelines to implement a unified medical prescription in Lebanon. These guidelines are expected to promote medication safety and decrease pharmaceutical expenditures in the Lebanese context. Methods The Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon (OPL) developed a comprehensive set of guidelines for physicians and pharmacists, including a detailed workflow process to improve the use of the unified medical prescription. The guidelines were presented to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MOPH). Results The project covered prescription guidelines to physicians (handwritten and electronic-prescriptions), and medication dispensing and generic substitution guidelines to pharmacists. Prescription guidelines included all required information about both the prescribing physician and the patient with the maximum of details, comprehensibility, and caution regarding specific populations/co-morbidities/co-prescriptions. Dispensing guidelines included details for safe and appropriate treatment dispensing, pearls for medications’ counseling and generic substitution, as well as specific consideration for at-risk populations or those with concomitant medications and co-morbidities. Finally, a suggested workflow clarified the process for improving the unified medical prescription. Conclusions The implementation of the guidelines should now be formally evaluated, to assess if they achieve the aims to reduce prescribing and dispensing errors, to improve the quality of medicines’ prescription and use, the patient care, and the interaction between all stakeholders |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:08:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e9dda347ba70444f91df66232b38f550 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2052-3211 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:08:18Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-e9dda347ba70444f91df66232b38f5502023-12-07T15:28:03ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice2052-32112020-12-0113110.1186/s40545-020-00273-912315194Prescription and dispensing guidelines in Lebanon: initiative of the Order of Pharmacists of LebanonAline Hajj0Hala Sacre1Souheil Hallit2Rony M. Zeenny3Georges Sili4Pascale Salameh5Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Pharmacie Clinique Et Contrôle de Qualité Des Médicaments,INSPECT-LB,INSPECT-LB,Clinical Pharmacy Department,Drug Information Center,INSPECT-LB,Background In Lebanon, difficulties in accessing medications are due to two main barriers, mainly: high cost and the lack of medication safety, related to poor-quality (irrational) prescription and use. The objective of this work is to suggest guidelines to implement a unified medical prescription in Lebanon. These guidelines are expected to promote medication safety and decrease pharmaceutical expenditures in the Lebanese context. Methods The Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon (OPL) developed a comprehensive set of guidelines for physicians and pharmacists, including a detailed workflow process to improve the use of the unified medical prescription. The guidelines were presented to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MOPH). Results The project covered prescription guidelines to physicians (handwritten and electronic-prescriptions), and medication dispensing and generic substitution guidelines to pharmacists. Prescription guidelines included all required information about both the prescribing physician and the patient with the maximum of details, comprehensibility, and caution regarding specific populations/co-morbidities/co-prescriptions. Dispensing guidelines included details for safe and appropriate treatment dispensing, pearls for medications’ counseling and generic substitution, as well as specific consideration for at-risk populations or those with concomitant medications and co-morbidities. Finally, a suggested workflow clarified the process for improving the unified medical prescription. Conclusions The implementation of the guidelines should now be formally evaluated, to assess if they achieve the aims to reduce prescribing and dispensing errors, to improve the quality of medicines’ prescription and use, the patient care, and the interaction between all stakeholdershttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40545-020-00273-9e-prescriptionlebanonphysician prescribing patternguideline |
| spellingShingle | Aline Hajj Hala Sacre Souheil Hallit Rony M. Zeenny Georges Sili Pascale Salameh Prescription and dispensing guidelines in Lebanon: initiative of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice e-prescription lebanon physician prescribing pattern guideline |
| title | Prescription and dispensing guidelines in Lebanon: initiative of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon |
| title_full | Prescription and dispensing guidelines in Lebanon: initiative of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon |
| title_fullStr | Prescription and dispensing guidelines in Lebanon: initiative of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prescription and dispensing guidelines in Lebanon: initiative of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon |
| title_short | Prescription and dispensing guidelines in Lebanon: initiative of the Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon |
| title_sort | prescription and dispensing guidelines in lebanon initiative of the order of pharmacists of lebanon |
| topic | e-prescription lebanon physician prescribing pattern guideline |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40545-020-00273-9 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alinehajj prescriptionanddispensingguidelinesinlebanoninitiativeoftheorderofpharmacistsoflebanon AT halasacre prescriptionanddispensingguidelinesinlebanoninitiativeoftheorderofpharmacistsoflebanon AT souheilhallit prescriptionanddispensingguidelinesinlebanoninitiativeoftheorderofpharmacistsoflebanon AT ronymzeenny prescriptionanddispensingguidelinesinlebanoninitiativeoftheorderofpharmacistsoflebanon AT georgessili prescriptionanddispensingguidelinesinlebanoninitiativeoftheorderofpharmacistsoflebanon AT pascalesalameh prescriptionanddispensingguidelinesinlebanoninitiativeoftheorderofpharmacistsoflebanon |