Objective: To examine evidence on the economic impact of electronic prescribing (EP) systems in the hospital setting. Method: We conducted a systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, the NHS Economic Evaluation Database, the European Network of Health Economic Evaluation Database and Web of Science from inception to October 2013. Full and partial economic evaluations of EP or computerised provider order entry were included. We excluded studies assessing prescribing packages for specific drugs, and monetary outcomes that were not related to medicines. A checklist was used to evaluate risk of bias and evidence quality. Results: The search yielded 1,160 articles of which three met the inclusion criteria. Two were full economic evaluations and one a partial economic evaluation. A meta-analysis wasn't appropriate as studies were heterogeneous in design, economic evaluation method, interventions and outcome measures. Two studies investigated the financial impact of reducing preventable adverse drug events. The third measured savings related to various aspects of the system including those related to medication. Two studies reported positive financial effects. However the overall quality of the economic evidence was low and key details often not reported. Discussion There seems to be some evidence of financial benefits of EP in the hospital setting. However, it is not clear if evidence is transferable to other settings. Research is scarce and limited in quality, and reported methods are not always transparent. Further robust, high quality research is required to establish if hospital EP is cost effective and thus inform policy makers' decisions. We are pleased to submit our manuscript entitled: "Economic impact of electronic prescribing in the hospital setting: a systematic review". This systematic review examines the evidence to establish if electronic prescribing systems use in the hospital setting is cost effective. We conducted a systematic search of seven databases from inception to October 2013 and included full and partial economic evaluations of electronic prescribing systems or computerised provider order entry.
COVER LETTERWe found some evidence of financial benefits of EP use. However, it is not clear if evidence is transferable to other settings. Our review also shows that studies exploring the economic impact of electronic prescribing systems in this context are scarce and limited in quality. Therefore we endorse further robust research to establish if electronic prescribing systems use in hospitals is good value for money. This manuscript has not been previously published and is not under consideration in the same or substantially similar form in any other peer-reviewed media. All authors listed have contributed sufficiently to the project to be included as authors, and all those who are qualified to be authors are listed in the author byline. To the best of our knowledge, no conflict of interest, financial or other, exists. We have included acknowle...