A Study of Prescription Audit in Outpatient Department of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in India: An Observational Study

Abstract

Background: The quality of life can be improved by enhancing the standards of the medical treatment at all levels of the healthcare delivery system. A medical audit oversees the observance of these standards. Prescription Audit offers the most comprehensive overview of performance, detailing parameter as per the check list of prescription audit. Aim: To monitor, evaluate and suggest modifications (if necessary) in the prescribing practices of medical practitioners. Methods: The observational study was conducted over a period of 6 months and data were collected from 1093 prescriptions collected from outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in India. Results: Total 1093 prescriptions were evaluated for the Audit, out of which 56.4% were Male & 43.6% were Female cases. Majority of the study subjects belonged to the age group of 40-59 years (32.4%). During the study mainly twelve parameter were assessed according to the checklist provided by the Hospital with total 1093 samples of prescription audit, only 2.2 % (280) cases had the non-compliance, 64.5% (8464) cases had compliance and 33.3% (4372) not applicable to this parameters. Conclusion: The results obtained from the study shows the prevailing prescribing habits at our institution. Many of the prescribing trends from this study are a cause of concern and need attention. This study reveals that the auditing of prescription in terms of rationality, it remains poor. The value of such audits in generating and testing hypotheses on inappropriate prescribing will definitely create an intervention to improve prescribing habits and ultimately patient care will be improved.

Prescription Audit of Out-Patient Attendees in Gynecology Department in India

“…For the prescription audit, a total of twelve parameters were accessed. Only 2.2 percent of the 1093 prescription audit samples exhibited noncompliance, 64.5 percent had compliance, and 33.3 percent were not applicable to these parameters [6].…”

“…The main aim is to analyse the prescription forms to gauge the completeness of those forms, and that we also aim to bring back light the factors which require to be emphasised on while writing a prescription [6][7][8]. Improvements in medical treatment standards may improve quality of life, which can only be determined by prescription audit because it is based on documented data to support identification, treatment, and even hospital usage.…”

Prescription Audit in Outpatient Departments of Tertiary Care Hospitals; Facts and Recommendations

“…Our study has audited prescriptions based on standard checklists proposed by the WHO and NABH guidelines 11,12 . Although not outlined in our study and somewhat subjective, it is worth noting that "legibility" is also an integral part of a high quality prescription.…”

Prescription auditing and observational study in a tertiary care hospital

“…An 'audit' is defined as the review and the evaluation of the health care procedures and documentation for the purpose of comparing the quality of care which is provided, with the accepted standards. 1 The auditing helps in avoiding misuse of drugs and also keeps a check on rationality of drugs. The quality of prescription reflects the knowledge and attitude of doctor towards prescription rationality.…”