資訊科技在臺灣醫學中心藥事執業的應用

Application of Information Technology in Pharmaceutical Practices in Taiwan's Medical Centers

現今許多新興資訊科技應用於藥事執業，研究也證實這些技術能夠提升用藥安全與醫療品質。本研究為瞭解國內應用資訊科技於藥事執業到現況與未來需求，蒐集國外相關文獻，根據文獻資料設計問卷，題目以藥品管理與使用的六大面向為基礎，加上新興科技資訊的應用與需求，向全國各層級醫事機構發送問卷進行調查。由於醫學中心擁有最多資源及先進的設備，而且是醫事機構中接受調查的比例最高的層級，因此調查分析著重醫學中心。結果顯示國內醫學中心對相關軟體的使用都相當熟悉，但硬體的使用則不十分普及。各中心對於問卷中所使用專有名詞及科技應用的理解不同，與問卷設計者也有落差。為鼓勵國內醫事機構應用新興技術，政府應該制訂相關政策。

Many novel information technologies (IT) are used in assisting pharmaceutical practices nowadays. Researches indicated that these technologies could improve drug safety and quality of healthcare. The aim of this study is to understand the status and unmet needs of IT in pharmaceutical practices in Taiwan. The study started with literature review, and designed questionnaire accordingly. Questions in the questionnaires are based on six components of medication management and use (MMU), attached with the application and needs of novel IT. The questionnaires were then delivered to all levels of health institutes in Taiwan for the survey. Medical centers, being the highest level of hospitals in Taiwan with abundant resources and facilities, gave the highest response rate among all the surveyed health institutes. Therefore, our survey analyses focused on medical centers. This study indicated that medical centers in Taiwan applied much IT software in MMU. However, the usage of hardware, i.e., automation, is not very popular. We also found that perception of IT application and the specific terms in the questionnaire varied among medical centers, and there is a gap between the responders and the questionnaire designer. Government should formulate relevant policies or regulations to facilitate the adoption of emerging technologies in the medical institutions especially, hardware.