Using information technology to reduce rates of medication errors in hospitals

doi:10.1136/bmj.320.7237.788

BMJ 2000;320:788-791 ( 18 March )

Education and debate

Using information technology to reduce rates of medication errors in hospitals

David W Bates, chief.

Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA

dbates@partners.org

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Data continue to show that medication errors are frequent and that adverse drug events, or injuries due to drugs, occur moreoften than necessary.^1-4 In fact, the frequency and consequencesof iatrogenic injuries seems to dwarf the frequency of other typesof injuries that have received more public attention, such asaeroplane and automobile crashes.² A recent meta-analysis reportedan overall incidence of 6.7% for serious adverse drug reactions(a term that excludes events associated with errors) in hospitals.⁴Between 28% and 56% of adverse drug events are preventable. ³ ^5-7

Though the reasons this issue has received so little attention are complex, the reasons that medical injuries occur with somefrequency are perhaps less so; medicine is more or less a cottageindustry, with little standardisation and relatively few safeguardsin comparison to, say, manufacturing. In fact, most of the systemsin place in medicine were never formally designed, and this . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

Practising safely in the foundation years: Susannah Long, Graham Neale, and Charles Vincent
BMJ 2009 338: b1046. [Extract] [Full Text]

Reducing error, improving safety: Victor Barley, Graham Neale, Christopher Burns-Cox, Paul Savage, Sam Machin, Adel El-Sobky, Anne Savage, Aziz Sheikh, Brian Hurwitz, C K Connolly, Pia Maria Jonsson, Göran Tomson, Lars Räf, Ken McCune, Ron Law, Roger M Goss, Anonymous, Carlos A Estrada, James Carter, Clyde Brooks, Ann C Jobe, Jonathan Aldridge, Peter Freeland, Brenda Ashcroft, Max Eistein, Nicholas Boreham, Peter J Shirley, Leo Strunin, Maldwyn Morgan, Paul Cartwright, and Robert P Coffey
BMJ 2000 321: 505. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Nanji, K. C, Cina, J., Patel, N., Churchill, W., Gandhi, T. K, Poon, E. G (2009). Overcoming Barriers to the Implementation of a Pharmacy Bar Code Scanning System for Medication Dispensing: A Case Study. J Am Med Inform Assoc 16: 645-650 [Abstract] [Full text]
Nanji, K. C., Cina, J., Patel, N., Churchill, W., Gandhi, T. K., Poon, E. G. (2009). Overcoming Barriers to the Implementation of a Pharmacy Bar Code Scanning System for Medication Dispensing: A Case Study. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 16: 645-650 [Abstract] [Full text]
Hanuscak, T. L., Szeinbach, S. L., Seoane-Vazquez, E., Reichert, B. J., McCluskey, C. F. (2009). Evaluation of causes and frequency of medication errors during information technology downtime. Am J Health Syst Pharm 66: 1119-1124 [Abstract] [Full text]
Long, S., Neale, G., Vincent, C. (2009). Practising safely in the foundation years. BMJ 338: b1046-b1046 [Full text]
van Rosse, F., Maat, B., Rademaker, C. M. A., van Vught, A. J., Egberts, A. C. G., Bollen, C. W. (2009). The Effect of Computerized Physician Order Entry on Medication Prescription Errors and Clinical Outcome in Pediatric and Intensive Care: A Systematic Review. Pediatrics 123: 1184-1190 [Abstract] [Full text]
Piva, E., Sciacovelli, L., Zaninotto, M., Laposata, M., Plebani, M. (2009). Evaluation of Effectiveness of a Computerized Notification System for Reporting Critical Values. Am J Clin Pathol 131: 432-441 [Abstract] [Full text]
Menachemi, N., Brooks, R. G., Schwalenstocker, E., Simpson, L. (2009). Use of Health Information Technology by Children's Hospitals in the United States. Pediatrics 123: S80-S84 [Abstract] [Full text]
Kilbridge, P. M., Classen, D. C. (2008). The Informatics Opportunities at the Intersection of Patient Safety and Clinical Informatics. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 15: 397-407 [Abstract] [Full text]
Westbrook, J. I., Braithwaite, J., Georgiou, A., Ampt, A., Creswick, N., Coiera, E., Iedema, R. (2007). Multimethod Evaluation of Information and Communication Technologies in Health in the Context of Wicked Problems and Sociotechnical Theory. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 14: 746-755 [Abstract] [Full text]
Franklin, B. D., 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. Qual Saf Health Care 16: 279-284 [Abstract] [Full text]
Kuiper, S. A., McCreadie, S. R., Mitchell, J. F., Stevenson, J. G. (2007). Medication errors in inpatient pharmacy operations and technologies for improvement. Am J Health Syst Pharm 64: 955-959 [Full text]
Stebbing, C., Wong, I. C K, Kaushal, R., Jaffe, A. (2007). The role of communication in paediatric drug safety. Arch. Dis. Child. 92: 440-445 [Abstract] [Full text]
Poon, E. G., Cina, J. L., Churchill, W., Patel, N., Featherstone, E., Rothschild, J. M., Keohane, C. A., Whittemore, A. D., Bates, D. W., Gandhi, T. K. (2006). Medication dispensing errors and potential adverse drug events before and after implementing bar code technology in the pharmacy.. ANN INTERN MED 145: 426-434 [Abstract] [Full text]
Smith, D. H., Perrin, N., Feldstein, A., Yang, X., Kuang, D., Simon, S. R., Sittig, D. F., Platt, R., Soumerai, S. B. (2006). The impact of prescribing safety alerts for elderly persons in an electronic medical record: an interrupted time series evaluation.. Arch Intern Med 166: 1098-1104 [Abstract] [Full text]
McDonald, C. J. (2006). Computerization Can Create Safety Hazards: A Bar-Coding Near Miss. ANN INTERN MED 144: 510-516 [Abstract] [Full text]
Lawton, G., Shields, A. (2005). Bar-code verification of medication administration in a small hospital. Am J Health Syst Pharm 62: 2413-2415 [Full text]
Yeom, J. H., Park, J. S., Oh, O.-H., Shin, H. T., Oh, J. M. (2005). Identification of Inappropriate Drug Prescribing by Computerized, Retrospective DUR Screening in Korea. The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 39: 1918-1923 [Abstract] [Full text]
Dzik, W. H. (2005). Technology for Enhanced Transfusion Safety. ASH Education Book 2005: 476-482 [Abstract] [Full text]
Roumie, C. L., Grogan, E. L., Falbe, W., Awad, J., Speroff, T., Dittus, R. S., Elasy, T. A. (2004). A Three-Part Intervention To Change the Use of Hormone Replacement Therapy in Response to New Evidence. ANN INTERN MED 141: 118-125 [Abstract] [Full text]
Greengold, N. L., Shane, R., Schneider, P., Flynn, E., Elashoff, J., Hoying, C. L., Barker, K., Bolton, L. B. (2003). The Impact of Dedicated Medication Nurses on the Medication Administration Error Rate: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Arch Intern Med 163: 2359-2367 [Abstract] [Full text]
Tamblyn, R., Huang, A., Perreault, R., Jacques, A., Roy, D., Hanley, J., McLeod, P., Laprise, R. (2003). The medical office of the 21st century (MOXXI): effectiveness of computerized decision-making support in reducing inappropriate prescribing in primary care. CMAJ 169: 549-556 [Abstract] [Full text]
Stubbs, J., Haw, C., Mountjoy, C. (2003). Medication Errors in Psychiatry. Psychiatr. Serv. 54: 1164-1164 [Full text]
Grasso, B. C., Genest, R., Jordan, C. W., Bates, D. W. (2003). Medication Errors in Psychiatry. Psychiatr. Serv. 54: 1165-1165 [Full text]
Goldsmith, J., Blumenthal, D., Rishel, W. (2003). Federal Health Information Policy: A Case Of Arrested Development. Health Aff (Millwood) 22: 44-55 [Abstract] [Full text]
Bates, D. W., Gawande, A. A. (2003). Improving Safety with Information Technology. NEJM 348: 2526-2534 [Full text]
Fortescue, E. B., Kaushal, R., Landrigan, C. P., McKenna, K. J., Clapp, M. D., Federico, F., Goldmann, D. A., Bates, D. W. (2003). Prioritizing Strategies for Preventing Medication Errors and Adverse Drug Events in Pediatric Inpatients. Pediatrics 111: 722-729 [Abstract] [Full text]
Womer, R. B., Tracy, E., Soo-Hoo, W., Bickert, B., DiTaranto, S., Barnsteiner, J. H. (2002). Multidisciplinary Systems Approach to Chemotherapy Safety: Rebuilding Processes and Holding the Gains. JCO 20: 4705-4712 [Abstract] [Full text]
Rothschild, J. M., Federico, F. A., Gandhi, T. K., Kaushal, R., Williams, D. H., Bates, D. W. (2002). Analysis of Medication-Related Malpractice Claims: Causes, Preventability, and Costs. Arch Intern Med 162: 2414-2420 [Abstract] [Full text]
Ortiz, E., Meyer, G., Burstin, H. (2002). Clinical Informatics and Patient Safety at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 9: S2-7 [Abstract] [Full text]
Rundall, T. G, Shortell, S. M, Wang, M. C, Casalino, L., Bodenheimer, T., Gillies, R. R, Schmittdiel, J. A, Oswald, N., Robinson, J. C (2002). As good as it gets? Chronic care management in nine leading US physician organisations. BMJ 325: 958-961 [Full text]
Mekhjian, H. S., Kumar, R. R., Kuehn, L., Bentley, T. D., Teater, P., Thomas, A., Payne, B., Ahmad, A. (2002). Immediate Benefits Realized Following Implementation of Physician Order Entry at an Academic Medical Center. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 9: 529-539 [Abstract] [Full text]
Patterson, E. S., Cook, R. I., Render, M. L. (2002). Improving Patient Safety by Identifying Side Effects from Introducing Bar Coding in Medication Administration. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 9: 540-553 [Abstract] [Full text]
Miller, R. H., Bovbjerg, R. R. (2002). Efforts to Improve Patient Safety in Large, Capitated Medical Groups: Description and Conceptual Model. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 27: 401-440 [Abstract]
Rothschild, J. M., Lee, T. H., Bae, T., Bates, D. W. (2002). Clinician Use of a Palmtop Drug Reference Guide. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 9: 223-229 [Abstract] [Full text]
Shannon, T, Ratchford, A, Southward, D, Hildreth, A (2002). The development of a computerised equipment and drug calculator for use in resuscitation. Emerg. Med. J. 19: 215-218 [Abstract] [Full text]
Strand, J. N., Ferner, R. E., Anthony, C., Teichman, P., Bates, D. W. (2001). Reducing Medication Errors. JAMA 286: 2091-2092 [Full text]
Bates, D. W., Cohen, M., Leape, L. L., Overhage, J. M., Shabot, M. M., Sheridan, T. (2001). Reducing the Frequency of Errors in Medicine Using Information Technology. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 8: 299-308 [Abstract] [Full text]
Bates, D. W. (2001). A 40-Year-Old Woman Who Noticed a Medication Error. JAMA 285: 3134-3140 [Full text]
Barley, V., Neale, G., Burns-Cox, C., Savage, P., Machin, S., El-Sobky, A., Savage, A., Sheikh, A., Hurwitz, B., Connolly, C K, Jonsson, P. M., Tomson, G., Räf, L., McCune, K., Law, R., Goss, R. M, Anonymous, , Estrada, C. A, Carter, J., Brooks, C., Jobe, A. C, Aldridge, J., Freeland, P., Ashcroft, B., Eistein, M., Boreham, N., Shirley, P. J, Strunin, L., Morgan, M., Cartwright, P., Coffey, R. P (2000). Reducing error, improving safety. BMJ 321: 505-505 [Full text]
Leape, L. L, Berwick, D. M (2000). Safe health care: are we up to it?. BMJ 320: 725-726 [Full text]