The medical orders have an important role in the prevention of medication errors. The objective ofthis study is to identify and to analyse the causal factors of error in the medication related to electronic prescription in two different clinics of a university hospital of the interior of the state of São Paulo. A questionnaire related to the advantages and disadvantages of electronic prescription was applied to the professionals of these clinics. The data collected was grouped in accordance with the similarity of the answers. These professionals identifiecj causal factors of errors in the medical orders, but they also mentioned the advantages of it when compared to the manual order, such as bigger readability, rapidity and organization of the first one. As we can see, the computerized system of medical order represents a great advance considering strategies to minimize errors from orders badly formulated. However, it does not eliminate the possibility of occurrence of causal factors of errors in the medication, which asks for some modifications in the system.
electronic prescription; medical order; medication error