Medication errors resulting from computer entry by nonprescribers.
PURPOSE: The characteristics of medication errors associated with the use of computer order-entry systems by nonprescribers are discussed. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of records submitted to MEDMARX was conducted for the period from July 1, 2001, to December 31, 2005, to identify all computer-...
| Published in: | American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy Vol. 66; no. 9; pp. 843 - 854 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press / USA
5/1/2009
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=105519268&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 105519268 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 10792082 1X3 jtl: American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy issn: 10792082 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 5/1/2009 vid: 66 iid: 9 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 105519268 2010268548 10.2146/ajhp080208 NLM19386948 105519268 ppf: 843 ppct: 11 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Medication errors resulting from computer entry by nonprescribers. aug: au: Santell JP Kowiatek JG Weber RJ Hicks RW Sirio CA affil: Department of Pharmacopeial Education, United States Pharmacopeia (USP), Rockville, MD 20852, USA. jps@usp.org sug: subj: Electronic Order Entry Medication Errors Evaluation Prescriptions, Drug Academic Medical Centers Pennsylvania Comparative Studies Data Analysis, Computer Assisted Descriptive Statistics Funding Source Interrater Reliability kappa Statistic Medication Errors Classification Pennsylvania Process Assessment (Health Care) Resource Databases Retrospective Design United States Human ab: PURPOSE: The characteristics of medication errors associated with the use of computer order-entry systems by nonprescribers are discussed. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of records submitted to MEDMARX was conducted for the period from July 1, 2001, to December 31, 2005, to identify all computer-related medication errors made by nonprescribers. Quantitative analysis of the records included the severity of each error, the origin within the medication-use process, the type of error, principal causes, the location within the facility where the error was made, and the therapeutic drug classes frequently involved. Similar data from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) were also analyzed and compared with the national data set. RESULTS: During the 4.5 years, 693 unique facilities submitted 90,001 medication error records that were the result of computer entry by nonprescribers. The national data set and the UPMC data had similar findings for error severity, error origin, and type of error but showed some differences in the rank ordering of error causes, location where the error occurred, and drug classes frequently associated with such errors. The percentage of harm associated with computer-entry errors was small for both the national data set and UPMC data (0.99% and 0.80%, respectively). Both data sets cited performance deficit as the leading cause of computer-entry errors, but large percentage differences were seen with other causes, including inaccurate or omitted transcription (30% versus 12.6%, respectively), documentation (19.5% versus 10.6%, respectively), and procedure or protocol not followed (21.7% versus 30.3%, respectively). Both data sets implicated the inpatient pharmacy department as the location where most computer-entry errors occurred (49.3% versus 69.0%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Analysis of the characteristics of medication errors associated with the use of computer-entry systems by non-prescribers from both MEDMARX and an individual health system database demonstrated that computer systems create new opportunities for errors to occur. Working closely with information technology personnel dedicated to assisting pharmacy departments and vendors, adequate training of pharmacy staff, and development of national standards for drug information displays in computer order-entry systems may help minimize such errors. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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