Sweden's Apoteket pilots new Rx safety program developed with Medco

Apoteket, Sweden's largest pharmacy chain, and the US pharmacy benefits management firm Medco Health Solutions  have developed what they says is one of the first national centralized drug utilization review (DUR) programs outside of the USA to improve prescription safety by reducing adverse drug events and thereby cutting the risk of costly hospitalizations. The collaboration was first announced in April 2008.

The system, called Elektroniskt ExpeditionsStod (EES), will be owned and operated by Apotekens Service AB, a national pharmacy infrastructure supplier for the Swedish health care system. The system was integrated into 10 pharmacies in mid-October last year and will be available to all pharmacy locations throughout Sweden in early 2010.
The leading edge system warns pharmacists about potential safety issues within the patient's complete medication history across all pharmacies and prescribers. Medco customized the system to incorporate drugs and clinical guidelines available in Sweden.

Each time a prescription is ordered in Sweden and patient consent is obtained, it will undergo an automatic rules-driven review that examines a patient's history to identify any potential danger of the new prescription interacting with other medications or aggravating existing medical conditions. It is estimated that 30% of emergency care visits and 10% of all hospital admissions in Sweden are the result of inappropriate or unforeseen drug related interaction.