Abstract
BackgroundPrescribing errors (PEs) are a common cause of morbidity and mortality, both in community practice and in hospitals. Pharmacists have an essential role in minimizing and preventing PEs, thus, there is a need to document the nature of pharmacists’ interventions to prevent PEs. The purpose of this study was to describe reported interventions conducted by pharmacists to prevent or minimize PEs in a tertiary care hospital.MethodsA retrospective analysis of the electronic medical records data was conducted to identify pharmacists’ interventions related to reported PEs. The PE-related data was extracted for a period of six-month (April to September 2017) and comprised of patient demographics, medication-related information, and the different interventions conducted by the pharmacists. The study was carried in a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh region. The study was ethically reviewed and approved by the hospital IRB committee. Descriptive analyses were appropriately conducted using the IBM SPSS Statistics.ResultsA total of 2,564 pharmacists’ interventions related to PEs were recorded. These interventions were reported in 1,565 patients. Wrong dose (54.3 %) and unauthorized prescription (21.9 %) were the most commonly encountered PEs. Anti-infectives for systemic use (49.2 %) and alimentary tract and metabolism medications (18.2 %) were the most common classes involved with PEs. The most commonly reported pharmacists’ interventions were dose adjustments (44.0 %), restricted medication approvals (21.9 %), and therapeutic duplications (11 %).ConclusionsIn this study, PEs occurred commonly and pharmacists’ interventions were critical in preventing possible medication related harm to patients. Care coordination and prioritizing patient safety through quality improvement initiatives at all levels of the health care system can play a key role in this quality improvement drive. Future studies should evaluate the impact of pharmacists’ interventions on patient outcomes.
Highlights
Prescribing errors (PEs) are a common cause of morbidity and mortality, both in community practice and in hospitals
PEs are defined as “a clinically meaningful prescribing error that occurs as a result of a prescribing decision or the prescription writing process resulting in an unintentional significant reduction in the probability of treatment being timely and effective [5] or in increasing the risk of harm when compared to generally accepted practice” [6]
The highest frequency of reported PEs was among adults (18 to 64 years) had with 1,241 (48.4 %) reported PEs, while the lowest frequency of PEs reported (4.3 %) was among adolescents’ patients (13 to 17 years)
Summary
Prescribing errors (PEs) are a common cause of morbidity and mortality, both in community practice and in hospitals. The benefits of medications in relation to patient care have been one of the main focuses of the human being for centuries. Medications can be a double-edged sword and medication safety has always been a major concern for both patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) [2]. Prescribing errors (PEs), a major medication safety issue, are a common cause of morbidity and mortality, both in the community practice and in hospitals [4]. Despite the fact that there is variability in the documented rates of medication errors due to the utilization of various medication safety classification systems in addition to the different tools and methods of recording medication errors, PEs are considered a common occurrence with substantially high burden [7]. PEs are associated with higher consumption of healthcare resources and incur substantial costs to the healthcare system [8]
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