In 2023, the French National Authority for Health (Haute Autorité de Santé, HAS) reported 4,083 serious adverse events related to healthcare, 12.5% of which were due to medication errors and iatrogenesis. These issues account each year for 10,000 to 30,000 deaths and 85,000 to 180,000 avoidable hospitalizations. At the same time, the French National Health Insurance (L’Assurance Maladie) indicated that prescription fraud amounted to €7 million in 2022 and €11.5 million in 2023.
In this article, Alcimed highlights three categories of digital tools that support healthcare professionals in enhancing medication safety, from prescribing through to dispensing.
Patient care very often begins with a prescription, but writing a prescription is far from a mere formality. It involves selecting the right molecule, dose, formulation, and regimen, while taking into account the patient’s profile (age, weight, medical history, ongoing treatments, allergies, etc.). This task is becoming increasingly complex due to the growing number of available medications, the rise of polypharmacy, and limited consultation time.
Clinical Decision Support Software (CDSS) is essential in supporting prescribers, as it enables them to:
These tools are directly integrated into clinical software systems and are intended for all authorized prescribers, including physicians, dentists, and midwives. They operate by cross-referencing patient data with drug databases. In France, they are validated by the HAS to ensure the reliability of the information provided, with widely used databases such as VIDAL and Claude Bernard. Today, more than forty CDSS solutions are certified by the HAS, including those developed by well-known providers such as Doctolib, Weda, and Ordoclic.
Recent developments in CDSS incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) to go beyond simple alert systems. Some modules, such as CopiloteOrdo (Synapse Medicine), can now optimize existing prescriptions by offering:
The use of CDSS significantly reduces prescribing errors, saves time during consultations, and simplifies the management of complex or repeat prescriptions. In 2025, Synapse Medicine conducted a study on one such module targeting polypharmacy in older adults. Integrated into a CDSS, the tool reduced potentially inappropriate prescriptions in 53% of elderly patients, compared to 20% with standard tools (PING study, Bordeaux University Hospital, March 2025).
Although already well integrated into clinical practice, CDSS solutions are expected to become the norm. From 2026 onward, they will be included in the “digital foundation” of essential tools for prescribers and will become a prerequisite for receiving digital funding incentives. They are also expected to support the integration of mandatory standardized prescriptions, planned for common or easily standardized situations such as home infusions, wound care, pain management, or blood tests (pilot phase in 2026).
Once a prescription is issued, ensuring its secure transmission becomes critical. Launched in 2022 as part of France’s digital health initiative (“Ségur du numérique en santé”), e-prescriptions have been mandatory since January 1, 2025, for all outpatient prescriptions as well as hospital prescriptions dispensed in community settings.
This system relies on drafting the prescription within a CDSS and automatically transferring it to a secure database hosted by the national health insurance system. It enables:
In practice, a paper copy including a QR code is still provided to the patient for presentation at the pharmacy. Pharmacists must be equipped with compatible software and QR code readers to scan it. Financial incentive programs are therefore being implemented to support pharmacies in adopting e-prescriptions. By 2030, the French National Health Insurance (CNAM) plans to position e-prescriptions as a central tool for securing and regulating so-called “high-cost or sensitive” prescriptions.
In addition, the secure transcription of paper prescriptions—particularly upon a patient’s admission to a healthcare facility—can rely on data entry support solutions such as prescription scanning tools developed by Posos. Integrated into clinical software, these tools allow prescriptions to be photographed or imported. Medications, dosages, and regimens are then automatically recognized and pre-filled, reducing the risk of data entry errors.
The final safety checkpoint before treatment reaches the patient lies at the pharmacy counter, whether in community pharmacies or hospital pharmacies. Here, pharmacists can rely on Pharmacy Information Systems (PIS).
At a minimum, PIS must include functions to record medication dispensing, but they go further by verifying prescription validity and helping detect potential falsifications. Like CDSS, PIS rely on approved drug databases to ensure the provision of reliable information (treatment duration, recommended dosages, etc.) and to generate real-time alerts on drug interactions, contraindications, and safety warnings.
The most widely used pharmacy management systems (such as Smart RX and id by Equasens) now integrate advanced modules developed in partnership with specialized players like Phealing and Posos, enabling:
These features contribute to dispensing practices that comply with regulatory requirements while optimizing pharmacists’ workflow.
In addition, other digital tools available to pharmacists aim to limit fraud:
Digital tools such as CDSS, PIS, and e-prescriptions provide concrete solutions to secure every step of the medication pathway, from prescribing to dispensing. Their widespread adoption represents a major opportunity to reduce errors, combat fraud, and optimize patient care. The key challenge now lies in ensuring consistent deployment across regions, supported not only by adequate funding but also by comprehensive training and adoption by all healthcare professionals.
At Alcimed, we are convinced that well designed digital tools are key enablers of safer, more seamless, and more efficient care pathways. Don’t hesitate to contact our team to discuss further.
About the author,
Noéline, Consultant in Alcimed’s Healthcare team in France.
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