The aims of the study were to review the literature within the last decade with regard to existing applications to improve non-adherence, quality of life, and to discuss the pros and cons of currently marketed mobile applications. Based on review of a total of 33 articles and reports, hundreds of medication-related applications were shown to be currently available on the market. The findings were categorized based on the pros and cons of the applications. Results revealed that various applications are helpful to facilitate patient adherence, yet the majority of them have similar functions. These functions consist of manual reminder alerts and access to sources for drug information. Limited studies were found related to quality of life. Observational studies that were retrieved focused on physiological factors, such as a decrease in hemoglobin A1c. The target populations for mobile applications included caregivers, the elderly, low literacy patients, low income individuals, and other patients. Current mobile applications have a beneficial impact on patients, caregivers, and health-care providers including pharmacists. Although there were some concerns regarding methods for using mobile applications, such as privacy issues, the majority of previous studies showed positive perspectives on mobile applications. Future research on compatible features is encouraged for improved mobile application use in healthcare.
E-prescribing has flourished due to the promise of improving efficiency and decreasing prescription errors caused by its handwritten counterpart, yet only 44% of doctor's offices use paperless prescriptions. Many studies have assessed the value of e-prescribing in the clinical setting, yet there is no all-inclusive summation of these findings. The aim of this study was to review the literature within the last decade pertaining to the cost effectiveness, clinician adoption and limitations of e-prescribing. Journal articles from January 1, 2003 through May 1, 2013 were compiled through use of the search engines: PubMed, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (IPA), and Google Scholar. A total of 56 peer-reviewed articles were included in this review. Trends show that most clinicians view e-prescribing positively despite some limitations.Limitations of e-prescribing include cost of implementation and maintenance, insufficient training, and lack of standardization. The cost to implement an integrated system with alerts and decision support is $29,000 per physician for the first year and $4,000 every year thereafter. Furthermore, e-prescribing has little disruption to workflow and no statistically significant increase in processing time. Although limitations exist, an expansion of e-prescribing is expected in the future. Efforts should be increased to promote clinicians adopting e-prescribing.
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