Drug prescribing – is a significant part of a dentist's work, guaranteeing better health outcomes. It's crucial to choose the right medicine and dosage for each individual.
This topic was discussed in a recent interview on Dentistry IQ media with Barbara Madej – chief science officer at MedAssent DDS and a skilled pharmacist with four decades of practical experience. Here, she shared valuable tips for colleagues from the dental industry and clinic managers about improving the prescription process.
Drug prescribing – is a significant part of a dentist's work, guaranteeing better health outcomes. It's crucial to choose the right medicine and dosage for each individual.
This topic was discussed in a recent interview on Dentistry IQ media with Barbara Madej – chief science officer at MedAssent DDS and a skilled pharmacist with four decades of practical experience. Here, she shared valuable tips for colleagues from the dental industry and clinic managers about improving the prescription process.
1. Make a research
The general recommendation from Barbara Madej – is to "always check patient's medication history." Quite simple – but pretty important. When you prescribe a drug, you should consider all
existing medications to avoid drug contradictions, which are always harmful and potentially very dangerous for the patients.
2. Stay up to date
As Barbara Madej noticed, dentists commonly may be a bit 'conservative' when they choose medicine, preferring older drugs (some dentists in the US still prescribe Dolobid – an anti-inflammatory invented in 1971) and neglecting new modern alternatives with better clinical characteristics and a thinner list of side effects.
3. Review your management
If your clinic has separate pharmacists and dentist teams, you should schedule a meeting where specialists can exchange patient records, discuss specific cases, etc. Also, you should provide them with an effective communication tool that allows pharmacists to consult dentists about dosage and kind of drug.
Another helpful tool to avoid mistakes during prescription is implementing the Healthcare Exchange Information system – a toolset that collects all medication history, doctors' notes, and other important patient information in electronic (commonly cloud-based) data storage.
With special management software, these data may be embodied in a user-friendly interface where dentists can access any type of available patient healthcare information. The same thing we do in Remedico – our web-based digital tool helps to keep all clinic records in one digital tool that may be used by doctors, administrators, and other staff involved in working with clients.
Another software solutions
In an interview, Barbara Madej also mentioned that she was involved in developing a Digital Drug Handbook – a special source for dentists that includes a wide range of pharmacists' guides about drug recommendations, their alternatives, preferable dosages, etc.
Also, dentists can find information about drug compatibility and lists of side effects for each medicine here – crucial information that helps to eliminate the chance of a doctor's mistake.
