Medication errors have been one of the leading causes of iatrogenic illnesses in patients, and they are said to cause harm and results in additional costs to both the patient and medical facilities. Every year, 3.8 million inpatient admissions cases are reported with preventable medication errors whereas 3.3 million outpatient visits are reported (Runciman et al. 2003). These errors occur as a result of dosing errors, high volume of medications that are dispensed to the patient and also due to harmful drug interactions and drug allergies. These medication errors can be prevented if some steps are taken in incorporating technology systems in the health care facilities so as to reduce the additional costs that are incurred to medication errors as well as reducing harm to patients.
Technology has played a significant role in health care systems in the recent past. Automating systems in such settings will ensure seamless operations that include the dispensing of medication. Current technology that may be used in preventing such errors includes electronic medication reconciliation, automated dispensing of drugs, computerized physician order entry, bar code medication administration and using personal health records. These advancements in technology in the health care systems have proved to be vital in preventing cases of medication errors. The human ability can be limited to providing undivided attention to complex processes like recalling, memorizing and synthesizing large amounts of data.
Technological advancements can improve access to pieces of information and can organize them by identifying links that lie between them. As a result, clinicians can access information like drug recall warning, patient’s allergies and drug-drug interaction. Therefore, these technology tools come in handy by providing crucial information to clinicians when they are making important decisions concerning dispensing medication to the patients. It has been reported that most of the medication errors occur at the prescribing stage, computerized physician order entry (CPOE) that has patient-specific decision assistance is possibly an active intervention for improving the safety of the patient (Agrawal 2009). Common mistakes or errors done at this stage include using an incorrect calculation of the dosage, using the wrong prescription form and failure to regulate prescriptions in patients with hepatitis or renal dysfunction.
The computerized physician order entry ensures that the order entry is legible and complete, giving the correct calculation for dosage adjustment and providing information about the possible allergies that the patient may have. Using bar codes to reduce medication errors in healthcare is also a form of technology that should be embraced. The bar codes help the clinicians and nurses who are dispensing medicines to patients mostly at bedsides to scan the details of the patient on their identification bracelet to determine the unit dose that should be administered. The system is capable of giving the nurse alerts of any mismatch of the patient identity, route of administration, dosage, routine and time. The system is said to have reduced medication errors by 87% (Franklin et al. 2007).
Another technology tool that can be applied in the reduction of medication errors is the use of electronic medical records and reconciliation systems. Many medication errors, especially in inpatient cases, occur during admission transfer of the patients and discharge. Therefore, careful reconciliation of patient lists and records will significantly improve the safety of the medication. Automated dispensing cabinets and robots will also help in reducing medication errors by correctly identifying, packaging, and dispensing drugs. However, the introduction of these technology systems is bound to encounter barriers and obstacles during implementation. These barriers include the high cost of such systems may make it hard to adopt and use them. The systems can also cause workflow problems by creating additional work for clinicians; this may in turn cause other errors. Technology systems have proved to be a critical component in preventing medication errors and improving the safety of the patients, and a wider adoption should be encouraged.
References
Runciman W, Roughhead E, Semple S, Adams R. (2003). Adverse Drug Events and Medication Errors in Australia. International Journal of Quality Healthcare 15(1), 49–59.
Franklin, B., O'Grady, K., Donyai, P., Jacklin, A. & Barber N. (2007). The Impact of a Closed- loop Electronic Prescribing and Administration System on Prescribing Errors, Administration Errors and Staff Time: A Before-and-After Study. Quality Safety Health Care Journal 16, 279–84.
Agrawal, A. (2009). Medication errors: prevention using information technology systems. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 67(6): 681–686.
