An information system for drug prescription and distribution in a public hospital.

With 773 beds and 3696 employees, the Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (HCFMRP)-Universidade de São Paulo, is one of the largest medical institutions in Latin America. The complete process of prescribing and distributing medication at HCFMRP involves the following stages: prescribing (physicians); ordering (infirmary); separating and dispensing (main drugstore); verifying and administering (infirmary). This was a manual process, normally taking place in the morning. Bottlenecks were inevitable and the risk of errors was elevated. An information system (IS) was devised and implemented with a view to controlling such problems. This article addresses the construction of this system and reports on a survey in which different groups of users have evaluated the project.