Prescribing for insured outpatients at Cam Ranh general hospital in Khanh Hoa province, 2022

Background: Prescribing plays an important role in ensuring the rational use of drugs. The study aimed to describe the current situation of outpatient medical insurance prescribing at Cam Ranh General Hospital, Khanh Hoa in 2022. Methods: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study, combining quantitative and qualitative research. Researching 400 outpatient medical insurance prescriptions in 2022, combined with in-depth interviews with hospital leaders, the head of the Department of Examination, the head of the Pharmacy Department, the health insurance supervisor, and a group discussion with 07 working doctors at the Department of Medical Examination. Results: Research results show that the hospital complied with administrative procedures in drug prescribing at the rate of 100%. Prescriptions without instructions for a follow-up examination, diet, and rest accounted for 27.7%. The rate of outpatient prescriptions with antibiotics accounted for 23.25%; Vitamin tablets accounted for 9.25%. The average number of drugs was 3.09 per prescription. Prescriptions with drug interactions accounted for 3.5%. Prescriptions rejected by health insurance account for 3.5%, including Vinpocetin and Ginkgo biloba. In order to improve safe and rational prescribing, hospitals need to be equipped with software to warn of drug interactions and conditional drug use, in combination with effective monitoring of prescribing.