Electronic prescribing and medication administration (ePMA) is not a product to be “installed” — it is a clinical practice that matures with time. And time has a lot to teach us about safer medication management.
When organisations implement ePMA systems, the focus is often on go-live. It is a natural milestone, visible, measurable, and symbolically significant. But in our experience, and the experience of our clients, as heard recently from Dartford & Gravesham NHS Foundation Trust’s CxIO Julia Scott, the most meaningful transformation does not happen at go-live. It happens after.
Time as a clinical multiplier
Only over the months and years following implementation, the full benefits of ePMA begin to surface. Clinicians become fluent in digital workflows. Patterns emerge in how medications are prescribed, reviewed, and administered. Lastly, organisations start to develop a culture around digital safety, not just digital systems.
This kind of long-term impact, however, is built on what happens early in the delivery process.
“What really makes the difference is how closely we work with clinical and digital teams during delivery. Every organisation has its own pressures, but when we collaborate early, mapping out priorities, aligning on safety goals, and adapting to local realities, the implementation becomes smoother, and adoption much stronger,” said Stefan, our Delivery Manager.
Once those foundations are in place, the system can begin to support more sophisticated ways of thinking about care. With structured, standardised data in place across the organisation, healthcare teams can start asking better questions:
- Where do our prescribing risks lie?
- How do medication practices differ across wards or teams?
- How can we spot problems before they escalate?
“The biggest shifts we see usually come 6 to 12 months later, when teams start to make the system their own,” commented Ashok, our Better Meds Implementation Consultant. “It’s in this phase that the system evolves from a checklist to a clinical asset. That’s when we know that ePMA is maturing.”
Another Better Meds Implementation Consultant, Carolina, added:
“Go-live is just the start. The real change happens once clinicians begin using the system in their daily routines, when they stop asking how to do something and start asking how we can do this better. We then see users move from cautious use to confident optimisation. They start exploring reports, giving structured feedback, and asking for improvements that reflect their real-world workflows. That’s when digital medication management truly takes off.”
As more organisations progress beyond the early stages of adoption, we are also seeing ePMA stretch into new care environments, and with that, new expectations. What works well in acute hospital settings does not always translate directly elsewhere, like mental health services or independent care providers. However, the core principle remains the same: ePMA matures with use, shaped by the needs of clinicians and patients alike.
This shift, from standardising to adapting, marks an important evolution. It is not just about bringing ePMA to new places. It is about making it fit different kinds of care.
A new chapter: Mental health and independent healthcare
The next frontier for ePMA is not just about more hospitals, it is about more contexts. With Better Meds now planning to be rolled out across 55 mental health sites in the UK’s independent healthcare sector, we are seeing what happens when digital prescribing enters environments that have traditionally been underserved by large-scale IT infrastructure.
Mental health settings bring their own challenges and opportunities. Continuity of care, long-term prescribing, and patient autonomy all take on new dimensions. The independent sector adds another layer: agility, variability, and a strong desire to match or exceed NHS safety standards.
We believe these environments will be crucial in shaping the future of ePMA. They push us to design medication management that is flexible, person-centred, and deeply integrated into broader care pathways.
From implementation to intelligence
The next phase of ePMA is not just about digitising what used to be on paper. It is about making medication management smarter, more connected, and more responsive to real-world clinical needs.
We are continuing investing in:
- Smarter clinical decision support, grounded in context, not just alerts.
- Connected medication records across care settings for joined-up prescribing.
- Insight tools that give frontline teams the ability to spot trends, reduce variation, and prevent harm.
- Mobile-first workflows that bring prescribing and administration to the bedside, enabling clinicians to work safely and efficiently on the move without being tied to a workstation.
- Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) integration, helping create seamless transitions between secondary and primary care.
- System-wide interoperability, including integration with automated dispensing cabinets, pharmacy systems, and shared care records, so that medication data flows where it’s needed, without duplication or delay.
And as always, all in partnership with clinicians, because technology does not drive safety, people do.
Looking ahead
About a year after go-live, an ePMA system should feel less like a new tool and more like a natural extension of clinical work. But that only happens with commitment, feedback, iteration, and time.
As we expand into new settings, especially in mental health and independent healthcare, we are learning just how adaptable, resilient, and impactful ePMA can be. Not as a fixed product, but as a living platform that continues to grow with the people who use it over time.
The future of medication safety is not just digital. It is dynamic. And it is already here.
Do you want to learn how Better Meds can support your ePMA journey? Click on the button below and learn more.
