In my healthcare organization, nurse informaticist communicate with pharmacy via a cellphone which is connected to the patient’s EMR using the EPIC database.  The RN uses the cellphone Rover application to scan the patient’s identification barcode and medication. If the medication is unavailable or there are questions regarding the administration of the medication, the RN can send a message to pharmacy via the cellphone Rover app which immediately updates the organizations pharmacy. According to Shull (2019), improvements on digital health systems can positively impact health outcomes of patients. 

One strategy to improve these systems would be to allow the Rover application to use a voice call , so the RN can call pharmacy to alert them of emergencies. Often times, the Rover application may lose data service or the message takes longer than needed to reach the correct department. In cases of emergency i.e. stroke codes or cardiac arrest the RN should be able to use the iPhone which houses the Rover application to not only send a message but call the pharmacy to alert them of the vital medication needed. When the RN is unable to access the needed medications in time, this is when the provider normally uses a substitution which can ultimately lead to a medication error. As noted by Di Simone et.al (2018) , “It is essential to point out that pharmacological therapy’s administration represents 40% of total nursing clinical activity in hospitals and nurses are the last safeguards for patients from medication errors”.

Continued emergence of new technologies will impact patient safety and quality of care . For example, providing the patient with wearable technology which is able to scan for vitals and send a direct message to pharmacy will provide rapid assistance to the patient. The nurse will also spend more time providing patient care and less time sitting at the computer documenting and requesting needed items.