The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a policy statement recommending that pediatric healthcare providers use e-prescribing to improve quality and reduce costs. According to the statement, published in the journal Pediatrics, the prescription error rates for children range between 5 percent and 27 percent; moreover, these errors can create more severe complications for children because of their more narrow therapeutic profiles and the inability of some of them to communicate adverse effects.
However, not all e-prescribing systems have the appropriate functionality for use with children, according to AAP. It recommends that such an e-prescribing system include pediatric-specific information, such as weight-based calculations and medication catalogues; be part of a "robust" EHR that includes drug/drug interaction and allergy checking; and be able to provide patients and their parents with administrative instructions. Statement