Name company
Gaston Medical
Name of innovation
Gaston Pharma
Website url
Medical classifications
CE, ISO, NEN
Country of origin
The Netherlands
MedScaler client since
2022
Modules completed
Market Analysis US, Market Validation US
A tailor-made Clinical Decision Support System for inpatient pharmacies
Gaston Medical developed Gaston Pharma, an intelligent and tailor-made Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) for inpatient pharmacies. It helps pharmacists to make the best, most personalized, and most efficient medical decisions. With this software, pharmacies save time and increase efficiency by decreasing the number of unnecessary notifications, as well as gaining insights into medication information that positively changes the lives of patients.
Preventing adverse drug events and alert fatigue
In the US, 1 in every 20 deaths is due to an adverse drug event (ADE)1. In many cases, this results from errors in the prescription process. Research shows that Clinical Decision Support (CDS) frequently fails to increase patient safety due to alert fatigue. Alert fatigue refers to the phenomenon where healthcare providers, including pharmacists, become desensitized to the numerous alarms and alerts generated by electronic systems, such as CDSs, leading to an increased number of medication errors.
Gaston Pharma offers a solution: Software with easily customizable medical workflows, embedded in artificial intelligence, and data from multiple patient data sources. As a result, both the quality and efficiency of the prescription process are improved, leading to a reduction in the number of medication errors and unnecessary notifications (thus minimizing ‘alert fatigue’). Gaston Pharma supports pharmacists by reducing the number of alerts by 55%, allowing them to save 60 minutes per day2. It has been scientifically proven to improve the efficiency of hospital pharmacists by 12,5%.
Additionally, the software offers insights into drug interactions and side effects aiming to improve the patient experience, and communication between health professionals, all leading to reducing the costs of unnecessary medication.
Jasmijn van Balveren. Laboratory Specialist Clinical Chemistry at Ziekenhuis St Jansdal Harderwijk“Installing and linking a new software application in a hospital proved no easy task. Gaston Medical’s experience in this proved very valuable”
How does Gaston Pharma work?
Gaston Pharma can be used in different settings. It can integrate with all EHRs in the Netherlands, such as Epic, Chipsoft, Hi-systems, and Cerner, and multiple systems, such as GP systems and Cytostatic prescription modules. Their solution provides relevant medication information from (national) databases, such as default dosages, conflicting medications, contraindications, and side effects. Adding all kinds of patient characteristics from the EHR tailor-made feedback is offered to the clinician. Additionally, the software has access to all clinical rules, all enabling custom-tailored advice to specialists, pharmacists, and assistants to suit the needs of the (hospital) pharmacies.
How does Gaston Pharma impact pharmacists and patients?
By using Gaston Pharma, pharmacists can optimize their clinical working process and minimize the number of notifications and tests. It prevents incorrect and dangerous medication from being given to patients in hospitals. This results in a positive experience of treatment via fewer side effects, pain relief, and better treatment of disease and reduces the medication costs for healthcare providers.
Clinical evidence build over the years
The developers of Gaston Medical uses clinical evidence as a base to build Gaston Pharma. Besides the Whitepaper on their website (in Dutch), this article is an interesting read if you want to learn more about Gaston Pharma and the problem it adresses:
Helmons, P., “Medication safety through information technology, a focus on medication prescribing and administering”, 2014
Pieter Helmons. Hospital Pharmacist and Chief Pharmacy Informatics Officer (CPIO) at Ziekenhuis St Jansdal Harderwijk“Our collaboration with Gaston is more like a partnership. We have the same goal: optimal medication safety for patients.”
References
1 Califf R. FAERS Reporting by Patient Outcomes by Year. Silver Spring, MD: Food and Drug Administration; 2015
2 Helmons, P., “Medication safety through information technology, a focus on medication prescribing and administering”, 2014
