Receptivity of physicians in a teaching hospital to computerized drug interaction monitoring and reporting system.

Physicians at Stanford University Medical Center were surveyed to evaluate their responses to a computerized drug interaction warning system one year after its installation. While one-fourth of the 862 respondents had personally received at least one warning report, the educational benefits of the system had diffused to many physicians in the hospital. Reports were found to be useful for patient management and 44 per cent of the physicians who had received reports indicated they had changed their behavior in response to the information. The system was particularly beneficial for interns and medical students, and appears to have potential as an educational tool for training in therapeutics. While several problems with the system were noted, the overall attitude of the respondents toward it was favorable. The drug interaction warning system appears to have a promising future for reducing the problem of drug interactions among hospitalized patients.