Medication Safety
Perspectives
See also Health Information Technology
Listed below are the most current and relevant resources on medication safety. For a complete list of all the resources ever listed on this page, view the MIPS TIPS Research Digest complete list of medication safety resources.
REPORTS
Preventing Medication Errors, a 2006 report published by the Institute of Medicine (USA), is the latest in a series that began with thehighly influential To Err is Human (2000).
ARTICLES
Innovations in Medication Safety is a compilation of many articles from the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, available for purchase on CD-ROM from the Joint Commission Resource Store.
INTERVENTIONS
Patient Safety Primer: Medication Reconciliation Full Text
One of eight resources that explain the key concepts in patient safety, this Primer includes information on Medication Reconciliation (med rec). It includes background information, how to accomplish med rec, and details of the current context.
Reconciling Medications at Admission: Safe practice recommendations and implementation strategies. Full text
Describes the implementation of medication reconciliation at 50 Massachusetts hospitals and identifies the factors most strongly correlated with successful outcomes.
Approaches to Improving the Safety of the Medication Use System. Full Text
This review describes a number of strategies for reducing medication errors.
Taking Aim at Infusion Confusion Abstract
Describes a project that took a systems approach to reducing drug infusion-related error.
Building Safer Systems by Ecological Design: Using restoration science to develop a medication safety intervention. Abstract
Applied techniques for repairing ecosystems to improving medication safety and safety culture.
Automated Medication Error Studies with Audit Supplementation Were Effectively Designed and Analyzed by Time Series. Abstract
Advocates an interrupted time-series design for evaluating the success of interventions.
Improving the Safety of Medication Administration Using an Interactive CD-ROM Program. Abstract
Nurses who completed the CD-ROM program showed improved adherence to safe administration practices.
BEST PRACTICES
Using Medical-Error Reporting to Drive Patient Safety Efforts.
Abstract
Describes different error reporting systems and makes recommendations.
Physician Communication When Prescribing New Medication.
Full Text
When prescribing a new medication, physicians often fail to communicate basic information, particularly information about potential side effects.
Tips to Avoid Key Drug Interactions and Side Effects. Full text
Describes lethal drug interactions involving warfarin, SSRIs, statins, and other substances.
Safe Medication Prescribing and Monitoring in the Outpatient Setting Full text
Advocates that, in the absence of computerized order entry, physicians follow simple rules for writing clear and correct prescriptions.
Can You Prevent Adverse Drug Events After Hospital Discharge?
full text
Describes the information that hospital doctors should communicate to patients and community health care providers.
The Importance of Establishing Regimen Concordance in Preventing Medication Errors in Anticoagulant Care. Abstract
Many patients described their warfarin regimen differently than their clinician did.
Improving the Safety of Intravenous Admixtures: Lessons learned from a Pentostam® overdose. Abstract
A medical centre developed a new form and provided information sheets to prevent future errors in the preparation and administration of admixtures.
OTHER TOPICS
National Surveillance of Emergency Department Visits for Outpatient Adverse Drug Events Full Text
Investigated the frequency and severity of adverse drug events in American Emergency wards.
Antiretroviral Medication Errors Among Hospitalized Patients With HIV Infection. Abstract
This study found that substantial number of medication errors occurred during hospitalization.
Brief Communication: Better ways to question patients about adverse medical events – a randomized, controlled trial. Abstract
Participants reported more adverse events in response to a checklist of side effects than to open-ended questions.
PERSPECTIVES
Medication Errors: Focus on Legibility. Full text
A hospital sought to encourage physicians to write more legibly, and had other staff members call to confirm the physicians’ orders rather than attempting to decipher them.
Medication Reconciliation: Progress realized, challenges ahead. Full text
Praises medication reconciliation programs and suggests areas for extending and improving the relevant IT.
