Utility of an online medication-error-reporting system

Abstract

The utility of an online medication-error-reporting program was evaluated. A survey regarding the utility of Medmarx was developed and mailed to 550 hospitals and health systems that used the medication-error-reporting program. Primary contact persons were identified and asked to gather and report the necessary information to adequately characterize medication-error reporting in their institution before and after implementing the Medmarx system. Potential respondents were contacted four times during the survey period by the United States Pharmacopeia. Of the 550 surveys sent, 200 were returned and 25 were undeliverable, resulting in a response rate of 38%. The average number of medication errors reported internally increased twofold after the adoption of the Medmarx system. Pharmacy departments were most often reported as responsible for medication-safety oversight activities after Medmarx implementation. Most facilities (94%) generated reports from the medication-error database, and 75% used this information to identify 7.0+/-8.1 opportunities to improve their medication-use system annually. Most respondents believed that Medmarx played an integral role in preparing their facility for Joint Commission accreditation surveys (65%), provided a tool for root-cause analysis (71%), and helped identify problems in the medication-use process (85%). The annual costs of the subscription and staff time required to use the system was estimated to be 16,756 dollars+/-21,108 dollars. Sixty-six percent of users were satisfied with the impact the system has had on improving the medication-use process. Implementation of the Medmarx system led to an increase in the number of reported medication errors and improvements in the medication-use process.