Running Head: Prescription 1

Prescription Medication Recognition Database

Submitted to:

Dr. Tinnakornsrisuphap, PhD

Prepared by:

Amrit Virdee

HCIN-543-02B-SU18 - Dtbs Dsign and Knwldg Mgmt

August 27th 2018

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Executive Summary

The US population is expected to be approximately 359 Million by the year

2030. Globally the world population will be approximately 7.3 Billion. It is also projected that

over 6 Billion prescriptions will be filled in the US by the year 2030. There is a real need for a

prescripton medication database that can be used for various queries. For example, in 2015 there

were nearly 200,000 calls made to poison control centers specifically for drug IDs and 40% of

medication identification requests are from people ages 65-84 who take 5 or more medications,

some of which may also have impaired eyesight.

The database with the addition of machine learning algorithms can be used to query a

prescription medication image in real time using a mobile device. The database is continously

being updated in order to improve accuracy and reduce the potential of errors, where an error

would be an inaccuarate description of a query medication. Using cost-effective solutions can

help healthcare providers such as Pharmacists reduce dispensing errors and also help patients and

caregivers with a tool that can help recognize prescription medications. The scope of this paper

is based on the database portion only.

1.0 Introduction

There is a possibility of making errors when dispensing prescriptions and in particular

dispensing an inaccurate medication, inaccurate strength or inaccurate manufacturer (where

some patients can only take certain manufacturers due to side effects) which can in turn cause

due harm to the patient. Current technologies being used in preventing dispensing errors include

bar code scanning and pharmacist visual verification. There is however still additional scope for

improvement.
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Preventing prescription errors is potentially a $7 billion market. It is estimated that a

typical pharmacist fills about 13,000 prescriptions annually (Flynn, Barker & Carnahan, 2013).

According to a study posted in the Journal of American Pharmaceutical Association (Flynn et al,

2003) noted that there are an estimated 3.3 million potentially important prescription errors

among the 3 billion prescriptions filled annually in the US (Flynn et al, 2003). Another study

also noted that there are approximately 100 undetected dispensing errors each day (Preventing

Medication Errors: A $21 Billion Opportunity, n.d). A report published by HPSO/CNA stated

that dispensing the incorrect drug has the highest percentage of claims at 43.8% and the wrong

dose made up 31.5% of the total professional liability closed claims (Gross, 2013).

A review of the current pharmacy retail environment shows us that there can be multiple

times when a pharmacist can be distracted such as when the phone rings, a patient or pharmacy

technician is asking a question, they are multi-tasking for example they be on hold with a

doctor’s office or insurance company and are verifying filled prescriptions at the same time.

Although there are current safety checks in place there are still occurrences of prescription

misfills. There is a need to provide additional capabilities in order to minimize prescription

errors to a goal of 0%.

The use of visual computer aided machine learning algorithms can be used to help

provide a ‘second pair of eyes’ to ensure that the right medication is filled in the right vial. The

use of a visual camera/scanner can verify that the medication in the vial is not only the right

medication but the right strength and from the right manufacturer.
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2.0 Methodology

 Tables

o The database consists of 2 tables: Description (which contains a descripton of the

medication) and a Reference (which contains reference pictures of the

medications). The database is a custom database collected by taking pictures of

prescription medications in various lightings, backgrounds and angles.

Descripton (MedID, Form, SingleMultiColor, ColorOne, ColorTwo, ImprintOne,

ImprintTwo, Shape, MedName, MedStrength, NDC)

PK: MedID

SK: MedName, MedStrength

FK: NDC Reference

Reference (NDC, ImgName, ImgWidth, ImgHeight, ColorSystem)

PK: NDC

SK: ImgName

o The machine learning portion comprises of using the images in the Reference

table and comparing it to the descriptions of the medications in the Description

table.
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 Forms

o New Description – This form allows the ability to add new medication

descriptions into the database.

o New Reference – This form is used when new reference images are introduced

into the database.

 Queries

o MedName by Form

 List all medications by form (Capsule or Tablet)

 SQL:

 SELECT MedName

 FROM Description

 WHERE Form='Capsule';

 Result Table:

MedName by Form
MedName
Strattera
Strattera
Tamiflu
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o Name & Strength of MultiColor Medications

 List the name and strength of all medications that are multi-colored.

 SQL:

 SELECT MedName, MedStrength

 FROM Description

 WHERE SingleColor=False;

 Result Table:

Name & Strenght of multicolor meds

MedName MedStrength
Strattera 25
Tamiflu 75

3.0 Results

 Reports

o For the MedName by Form report the name of the medication is listed for all

medications that are in this case capsules

o For the Name & Strength of MultiColor Medications report the name of the

medciation and the strength is listed for all medications that are multi-colored as

opposed to single colored.

4.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

The current database can help query and report a number of results. The accuracy of the

database can improve by including more reference images as well as expanding the number of
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attributes within the description table such as actual size of the medication, active ingredient and

manufacturer.
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References
Flynn, E. A., Barker, K., & Carnahan, B. (2003, March & April). National Observational Study

of Prescription Dispensing Accuracy and Safety in 50 Pharmacies. Retrieved

June 14, 2017, from http://www.scriptpro.com/Studies/National-Dispensing-

Accuracy-Study

Preventing Medication Errors: A $21 Billion Opportunity - NEHI. (n.d.). Retrieved June 14,

2017, from http://www.nehi.net/bendthecurve/sup/documents/Medication_

Errors_%20Brief.pdf

Gross, A. (2013, November 11). HPSO report examines pharmacist liability. Retrieved June 14,

2017, from http://www.pharmacist.com/hpso-report-examines-pharmacist-

liability
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