Evaluations of the prescription order entry system for outpatient clinics by physicians in the 80 university hospitals in Japan

We investigated the evaluations of the prescription order entry system by the physicians who are the direct users of this system. Questionnaires were sent to 400 staff physicians of 80 medical school affiliated hospitals, out of which 76% responded. Among the respondents, 48 per cent are making use of the computerized outpatient prescription order entry system, and 52 per cent are not. The result shows 78% of the physicians are in favor of the prescription order entry system; the most dissatisfied opinion of the physicians toward the system was that the input took too much time thus reduced the communication with the patient. Physicians who are using the system seemed to favor the system more than the physicians who are not using it.