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Abstract
Electronic health record (EHR) systems provide a means of tracking a broad range of patient health information including demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data, and radiology reports. To the author's best knowledge, there exists no universal standard in medication list formatting. As a result, one can imagine the ability of a clinician to quickly extract critical details regarding a patient's medication profile may be hindered. Indeed, a recent Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMMS) publication reported that approximately 25 percent of medication errors in the 2006 Pharmacopeia MEDMARX involved computer technology as a contributing cause and cited several studies documenting instances of 'terminology confusion' as a significant source of issues. We, therefore, believe the availability of a means of categorizing clinical drugs should therefore serve to promote greater expediency as well as a realization of the best treatments in the delivery of patient care.