Liverpool John Moores University gives students a Better insight into e-prescribing

A new partnership between the university and Better will enable nursing and pharmacy students to use the OPENeP EPMA on their courses

Hands-on experience of modern e-prescribing and medicines administration technology will support learning and has the potential to enhance patient safety

Liverpool John Moores University is to use Better’s OPENeP electronic prescribing and medicines administration solution to teach nursing and pharmacy students about modern prescribing practices.

The university and the company have formed a partnership to enable students to experience OPENeP, learn about the principles of prescribing, dispensing and administering medicines electronically, and explore the patient safety aspects of the technology.

Mark Arnold, senior lecturer in adult nursing, said: “We work with paper-based prescriptions but that, increasingly, does not reflect what is used in practice.

“Providing our students with high quality and varied learning experiences is key for us at LJMU. As more hospitals move to electronic systems, we wanted to ensure our students have access to technology that will consistently deliver a realistic training experience, and provide a robust grounding in the systems they will use as they embark on their nursing careers.

“We approached a number of companies and Better was really engaged with the process. They have been fantastic, both in providing access to the system and in providing us with support.”

Kate Shemilt, senior lecturer in pharmacy and biomolecular sciences, said she had been excited to hear about the initiatives and had immediately seen the potential for extending it to pharmacy students.

“Where EPMA systems are being implemented by trusts, it is important for our students to be familiar with them,” she said. “There is also a patient safety issue, because while there is evidence that EPMA improves patient safety, it can also raise new issues.

“We want our students to be aware of those issues, which will be common to all e-prescribing systems. However, the Better system was designed for clinicians by clinicians and it shows; it is very intuitive and we are delighted that our students will have the chance to use it.”

Better and Liverpool John Moores University have signed an agreement that will allow lecturers to build a demonstration version of OPENeP into the modules they teach. Nursing students will use the system in modules on how to administer medicines and in the university’s ‘high fidelity simulation’ of a hospital environment. 

In the pharmacy school, the system will be used by final year students and post-graduates. Shemilt said this should help NHS trusts as well as students. “It is standard for trusts to include training in the systems that they use in their induction packages, but there is a lot for new starters to take-in,” she said.

“I think that if our students are familiar with the basics, trusts will be able to focus on the points of detail that have more of a patient safety aspect to them.” The move to teaching with OPENeP should also enable students to move quickly onto non-medical prescriber courses once they have qualified and started work.

However, the partnership is far from being one way. Arnold said Better has invited lecturers using the system to take part in OPENeP development meetings and that the company is interested in their research and ideas.

OPENeP knowledge transfer manager Nina Pirc said the partnership was a good example of Better’s commitment to continuously improving its products and information about them. “We have been working hard over the past few years to understand users and to help them learn about OPENeP in the simplest way possible,” she said.

“We are pleased to have established this partnership with Liverpool John Moores University to share our knowledge with their students. We believe this partnership will set an example for the kind of partnerships that can be achieved between academia and industry, to create a two-way exchange of practical insights into clinical work.”

About Better: 

Better builds powerful digital products that help doctors and nurses treat people. We are dedicated to leveraging the power of design and technology to exchange and use health data for seamless care coordination and constant innovation to ensure the best health outcomes for all. With three decades of proven record at the technological forefront and vast domain knowledge, we are trusted by leading academic medical centres, children's and community hospitals, research and other healthcare institutions in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Norway, Finland, Italy and more. 

About OPENeP:

OPENeP is a comprehensive electronic prescribing and medication management system, constantly improved in collaboration with pharmacists, doctors, and nurses. The system is designed as a stand-alone solution, with easy integration options to connect to electronic patient record systems and medication-related decision support systems.  

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