Development and Evaluation of a Software-based Clinical Pharmacography System

Objectives: Prescribing, dosing and delivering chemotherapy to the cancer patients is a complex, highly specialized and time consuming process, requiring a specialized team (medical oncology clinician or veterinarian, nurse, pharmacist). Our aim was to create a software that fills the gap between medical doctors, pharmacists and nurses and consequently speeds up the calculation, dosing and preparation of chemotherapy and biological (targeted) therapy in medical oncology. Dedicated versions for human and veterinary medicine are available. Results: First version (chemotherapy and hormonal therapy in humans) was created in 1997 and the software was continuously updated. The 2014 update includes four versions (i.e. for humans or pets and standalone or network). The protocol library was extended to more than 800 chemotherapy protocols to include new chapters such as molecular targeted therapy and immune oncology. All 50 requirements and standards for achieving a good prescription from EuroRec EHR Quality Seal Level 2 are fulfilled. In our institution (Oncology Institute Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta) more than 3 chemotherapy cycles were already administered using this software. The program is also used in eight county hospitals or private centres in Romania. A customized version was recently created for use in the veterinary medicine (cats and dogs). Conclusions: The presented solution, a robust software program makes the administration of chemotherapy safer, avoiding calculation errors, offering instant access to patient’s history, as well as to a vast and updated protocol library. It shortens the time, standardizes the process and reduces the workload related to chemotherapy. The software can provide to the health authorities real-time data related to the number of cancer patients treated, the indications and the amount of drugs used. Its veterinary version can help the development of a veterinary medical oncology network. The data from this software may be used for prediction of stocks in pharmacy. The chemotherapy protocol library with browsing and help system attached provides a basis for an e-learning system in oncology.