Identifying and Ranking the Challenges of Electronic Prescribing from the Perspective of Service Providers with a Mixed Approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Gholamreza Sadeghi 1
Amin Ghasem Begloo 2
Mohammadkarim Bahadori 3
1 Department of Health Care Management, Faculty of Health,Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Health Care Management, Faculty of Health, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3 Health Management Research Center.Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences: Tehran.Iran
10.48305/him.2025.43521.1276
Abstract
Introduction: The use of electronic prescription systems can reduce medical errors and enhance patient safety. The present study aimed to identify and rank the implementation challenges of electronic prescribing from the perspective of service providers in two Social Security hospitals in Qazvin Province.

Methods: This mixed-method study was conducted in 2024 in two phases. In the first phase, using a Conventional content analysis approach, 12 service providers were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants to identify the implementation challenges of electronic prescribing. The collected data were categorized using MAXQDA 2020 software. In the second phase, the TOPSIS technique was applied using Excel 2021 to rank the identified challenges.

Results: The findings revealed that the implementation challenges were classified into two main categories: “Infrastructural Issues” and “Performance Issues.” Within the category of infrastructural issues, “Incomplete medical service codes” ranked highest with a relative closeness of 1, while “System update deficiencies” ranked lowest with a relative closeness of 0.241. In the category of performance issues, “Increased time required to work with the system” had the highest rank with a relative closeness of 0.978, whereas “Increased errors in prescription entry” had the lowest rank with a relative closeness of 0.262.

Conclusion: Based on the findings, it is recommended that policymakers allocate financial resources to review and revise the defined medical service codes in the system and simplify its processes, in order to improve system performance and enhance service providers’ satisfaction.

Keywords: Electronic Prescribing, Challenges, Ranking, TOPSIS

Keywords

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