http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/item.cfm?ID=1069
The design of the demonstrator that Minoru did and made Open Source some (amazingly large number of) years ago avoids that. I think the error of thought involved from the start has been a determination to use a messaging paradigm, where both ends of the message transaction are specified, and controlled. The result is more work for the doctor or their staff determining which pharmacy the patient prefers; less flexibility and convenience for the patient - finding themselves in London today they cannot collect their medicines from outside the station while waiting for the next train, or indeed if they shop on the other side of town for once they can't use a pharmacy there. The solution I expect will be that we will be told to print a prescription as well as sending the electronic transfer, thus maximising work and inconvenience for everyone. OTOH, if anyone wanted to set up a running copy, perhaps updated, of the old Minoru demonstrator, and consider how it would scale to 50 million of us, common sense could prevail. Theoretically. -- Adrian Midgley FLOSS regularly
