| A baseline study of medication error rates at Baylor University Medical Center in preparation for implementation of a computerized physician order entry system. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 16200120 Owner: NLM Status: PubMed-not-MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
OBJECTIVE: To determine baseline levels of medication errors and their root causes so as to highlight areas of potential process improvements and serve as a ruler against which to measure future improvements. DESIGN: A prospective pharmacist intervention study determining errors in 1014 medication orders at Baylor University Medical Center. Only errors in the process of medication ordering were documented; errors in drug administration were not considered. Root causes of errors were examined. RESULTS: The baseline medication error rate was 111.4 per 1000 orders (n = 1014). Most common were dosing errors (43.4 per 1000 orders), followed by frequency errors (19.7 per 1000 orders) and unavailable drug errors (12.8 per 1000 orders). Of the 113 total errors found, 52 (46%) had a transcription-based cause, i.e., an error in inputting the handwritten physician order into a computer system. System- or process-related root causes (such as duplicate orders or lack of crossover from one information system to another) accounted for 35.4% of the errors, and prescribing based causes (such as wrong dosage or nonformulary drugs) accounted for 18.6% of errors. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system would eliminate order-entry transcription-based errors. Its ability to resolve system/process-based and prescribing-based root causes of error is not as clear. Furthermore, the modification of processes due to implementation of CPOE could lead to new types of errors. Present processes must be redesigned according to evidence-based medicine, and future processes must be anticipated as technological changes occur. Such efforts-rather than outright reliance on technology--are more likely to lead to an error-free environment after CPOE is implemented. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Christina E Seeley; David Nicewander; Robert Page; Peter A Dysert |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center) Volume: 17 ISSN: 0899-8280 ISO Abbreviation: Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent) Publication Date: 2004 Jul |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2005-10-03 Completed Date: 2005-10-20 Revised Date: 2009-11-18 |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 9302033 Medline TA: Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent) Country: United States |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 357-61; discussion 361-2 Citation Subset: - |
Affiliation:
|
Baylor Information Services, Baylor Health Care System, Dallas, Texas 75246, USA. christse@BaylorHealth.edu |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
|
| Comments/Corrections | |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: The imperative for hospital-based palliative care: patient, institutional, and societal benefits.
Next Document: Tiotropium (Spiriva): a once-daily inhaled anticholinergic medication for chronic obstructive pulmon...