Identification and quantification of prescription errors

Abstract

We conducted a random audit of prescriptions received in service dispensary of a tertiary care hospital and analyzed them for prescription errors. Methods: A total of 1000 prescriptions were randomly selected. These prescriptions were analyzed with the help of three qualified pharmacists and were stratified as per the errors encountered. Results: Out of the total of 1000 prescriptions, 650 prescriptions (65%) were found to have a total of 1012 errors. Type B errors were found in 22.4% prescriptions, type C errors in 9.7% prescriptions and type D in 69.1% prescriptions. Conclusion: Prescription errors require proactive, continuous and meticulous monitoring so as to minimize them. It requires identification of preventable causes, increasing awareness and sensitizing the prescriber towards this important aspect of health care delivery.ª 2014, Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS). All rights reserved.

A review of the literature and proposed classification on e-prescribing: Functions, assimilation stages, benefits, concerns, and risks

“…66 Updating the database according to emerging data, protecting data, confidentiality maintenance and routine trouble shooting can be a key concern in the implementation of e-prescribing systems. 67 If any application of HIT (such as an e-prescribing system) is poorly designed or implemented, it can become very risky to patient safety by introducing a new source of medication errors. 13 One of the most important risks of using eprescribing is e-prescribing errors.…”

Illegible handwriting and other prescription errors on prescriptions at National District Hospital, Bloemfontein

“…15 The use of trade or brand names instead of generic names is a major concern in many studies and a major contributor to prescription errors. 10,11,13,14 In this study generic names were used in 27% of prescriptions, while this contributed to only 2.3% of the drug name errors. A reason for this confusion may be that the names are shorter and many begin or end with the same letters, e.g.…”

Prevalence and Types of Prescribing Errors at A Public Tertiary Care Centre in Malaysia

“…[13] Also, illegible handwriting in prescriptions is worthy of attention, even though it contributed to only 3.3% of all the errors. As poor handwriting was reported to kill more than 7,000 people annually in the US alone, [14] efforts should be made toward preventing such errors, such as by encouraging the use of free yet user-friendly web-based prescribing tools.…”