Regulatory interventions in the prescribing practice of physicians. The use of ICD-10 in the electronic prescribing system

As a critical step in ensuring the quality of healthcare for patients, along with rationalization of pharmaceutical spending, the prescribing habits of physicians need to follow established guidelines. In Greece, deviation from the established guidelines is a common practice, despite the fact that prescribing for outpatients is conducted almost exclusively through an established electronic prescription system that incorporates a substantial number of well-structured prescribing guidelines, the so-called therapeutic protocols. The deviation is obvious from analysis of the official prescribing data regarding the use of ICD-10 codes. Analysis of IDIKA data regarding the most 549 frequently used ICD10 codes in the prescriptions for the year 2018 revealed uncontrolled use of these codes by all specialties, along with widespread deviations from the therapeutic protocols and prescription of medicines with ICD-10 codes that are noncompliant. It should be noted that well-considered important upgrades to the infrastructure of the electronic prescription system would effectively eliminate most of these deviations. Implementation by the authorities responsible of such upgrades would make a substantial contribution to the rationalization of prescribing habits in Greece.