Background According to various studies, the quality of a software application greatly influences overall user satisfaction and thus the successful integration of assisted electronic prescribing (AEP).

Purpose To assess the degree of satisfaction of doctors and nurses in a palliative care unit after implementation of a new computer application for the AEP.

Material and methods This was an observational, cross sectional study by the pharmacy. After implementation of the APD-Athos software, doctors and nurses were given an anonymous satisfaction questionnaire with 13 Likert questions (from 1=insufficient to 5=excellent) related to: characteristics of the software, infrastructure, utility of AEP and assessment of the work done by the pharmacy department. A section for comments was also included.

Results 26 surveys (6 doctors, 20 nurses) of the 35 questionnaires distributed were analysed (74.3%). All respondents had previously used another programme for AEP. The infrastructure available for implantation obtained a score <2.5 in both groups. Regarding whether the EAP contributed to improvement in coordination between professionals, 100% of doctors assigned to this question a value >4; however, nurses graded it with an average of 1.3 points. All issues related to accessibility, clarity and agility in managing the software obtained a score <3 in both groups, except for ‘ease to indicate/read instructions for administration or other observations’ (medical mark=3.17). The support offered by the pharmacy department received the highest rating (5 doctors and 4 nurses). The most frequent comments were: confusing management sheet, excessive alerts, and difficulty in prescribing fluid therapy and in the visualisation of the therapy.

Conclusion The valuation of the new software was unsatisfactory and most users preferred the previous programme. However, implementation of the work done by the pharmacy department received a good score. The results identified some opportunities for improvement that will be future intervention measures. It would be advisable to create a new survey after making these interventions.

No conflict of interest