Incidence of potential drug interactions in a transplant centre setting and relevance of electronic alerts for clinical practice support

Background Adverse drug events may occur as a result of drug–drug interactions (DDIs). Information technology (IT) systems can be an important decision-making tool for healthcare workers to identify DDIs.Objective The aim of the study is to analyse drug prescriptions in our main hospital units, in order to measure the incidence and severity of potential DDIs. The utility of clinical decision-support systems (CDSSs) and computerised physician order entry (CPOE) in term of alerts adherence was also assessed. DDIs were assessed using a Micromedex healthcare series database.Methods The system, adopted by the hospital, generates alerts for prescriptions with negative interactions and thanks to a…