Winter 2005

H e a l t h   T e c h n o l o g y
Community building: Optimal drug prescribing and use

The Medication Prescribing and Use Project Collection is a virtual bulletin board where health care professionals may exchange information about projects or programs intended to improve drug prescribing and use.

By Sheila Tucker

The Medication Prescribing and Use Project (MPUP) Collection, launched in March 2005, is a virtual bulletin board where health care professionals may exchange information about projects or programs intended to improve drug prescribing and use.

This online resource is hosted by the Canadian Optimal Medication Prescribing and Utilization Service (COMPUS) — the newest program of the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA). Funded by Health Canada, COMPUS is a nationally coordinated program, created to optimize drug related health outcomes and cost-effective use of drugs.

Where possible, COMPUS builds on existing Canadian and applicable international initiatives and research. Its role is to: identify, promote and facilitate the implementation of best practices in drug prescribing and use; consolidate information resources; encourage health care provider and consumer behaviours for improved drug-related health outcomes; identify best practice information gaps (relative to drugs); and develop support networks for best practices in drug prescribing and use. This final role is achieved in part through the MPUP Collection.

The MPUP Collection was designed to be as user friendly as possible. The types of projects and programs, and the associated information within the MPUP Collection, were based on feedback from COMPUS cross-Canada consultations and a series of 2004 focus groups. Based on that strong foundation, COMPUS is inviting researchers, health care professionals and students from private practice, hospitals, pharmacies, universities and industry to contribute to the MPUP Collection.

One MPUP Collection contributor already sees the potential of this online resource. “Once well populated, I can see referring to the Collection when preparing grant proposals, looking at what others are doing elsewhere and finding people to work with on a certain subject,” said Charmaine Cooke, Project Coordinator, Population Health Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University.

Join the growing community that aims to bring about better health outcomes by sharing information about exciting initiatives. 

Sheila Tucker is CCOHTA’s liaison officer for Newfoundland and Labrador. She can be reached at 709-777-8740.

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