An audit of inpatient insulin prescriptions - how error relates to information source.

Background: The risk of hospital insulin prescription errors in the UK has remained unchanged despite the adoption of several national initiatives. This audit was conducted to evaluate whether the prescription errors were related to the information source used. Aims: To determine what sources of information are used at the time of hospital admission of patients with diabetes to obtain details of their insulin regimen and how different sources relate to prescription errors. Method: We examined the clinical notes of 85 patients with diabetes and confirmed the insulin doses with the patient or the carer administering insulin. Results: Only 44 out of 85 (52%) patients or carers administering insulin recalled being asked about insulin; prescription errors were slightly lower in these patients but overall insulin prescription error remains at one in four. Conclusion: The persisting inpatient insulin error rate calls for a review of how the information on insulin regimen is collected and used by the healthcare services.

Impact of pharmaceutical validation on prescribing errors in a neonatal intensive care unit. Randomised and controlled study.

Purpose: To compare the frequency of electronic prescription errors when the prescription was validated by the clinical pharmacist vs. when it was not. Methods: This prospective randomised controlled study was conducted in three phases. A randomised phase, in which patients were divided into control and intervention groups, and a pre- and post-intervention phase were consecutively performed to analyse the impact of pharmaceutical validation of prescriptions in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This study was performed at a highly complex NICU at a tertiary hospital. All patients born during the study period who were admitted to the NICU, with a stay lasting ≥24 h, and received active pharmacological treatment were included in the study. Pharmaceutical validation was performed according to the paediatric pharmaceutical care model. A high level of validation was selected for this study. In the intervention group, discrepancies found during the review process were communicated to the medical team responsible for the patients and resolved on the same day. Results: In total, 240 patients were included in this study. Sixty-two patients were allocated to the pre-intervention (n = 38) or post-intervention (n = 24) groups, and 178 patients were randomly sorted into two groups, control (n = 82 newborns) and intervention (n = 96 newborns). During the randomisation phase, the number of prescription errors detected was significantly lower in the intervention group than that in the control group (129 vs. 270; p < 0.001). Similarly, prescription errors reaching the patient were significantly reduced from 40% (n = 108) in the control group to 1.6% (n = 2) in the intervention group. In the pre- and post-intervention periods, the prescription lines containing prescription errors decreased from 3.4% to 1.5% (p = 0.005). Conclusions: This study showed that the pharmaceutical validation process decreased both the number of errors in the electronic prescribing tools and the number of prescription errors reaching the patient.

Tools to reduce prescribing errors of psychotropic drugs in older adults / Herramientas para reducir errores de prescripción de psicofármacos en los adultos mayores.

Introduction: Inappropriate prescribing is a major problem in psychiatric care in older adults. Factors such as the high proportion of older people with a high prevalence of mental disorders, the physiological changes typical of aging, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, the lack of evidence in treatment guidelines for this population, the degree of professional ignorance; give rise to the propensity to make prescription errors of various kinds. Objective: To review and summarize the available prescription tools that can provide support to improve prescription practices in psychopharmacology of the elderly. Method: A bibliographic review of the tools to reduce prescription errors in older adults was carried out: pharmacological reconciliation, interaction check, prevention, detection and reversal of prescription cascades and tools with explicit and implicit criteria (MAI, Beers, STOPP/START, FORTA, IFAsPIAM). Results: A clipping was made that groups the recommendations in the field of psychopharmacology. Conclusions: As there are no specific tools to improve practices in geriatric psychopharmacology, a compendium of its recommendations can be of orientation to the psychiatrist of older adults.

Introducción: La prescripción inapropiada es un problema importante de atención psiquiátrica en adultos mayores. Factores tales como la alta proporción de personas mayores con alta prevalencia de trastornos mentales, los cambios fisiológicos propios del envejecimiento, la multimorbilidad, la polifarmacia, la falta de evidencia en guías de tratamiento para esta población, el grado de desconocimiento del profesional; dan lugar a la propensión a cometer errores de prescripción de varios tipos. Objetivo: Revisar y resumir las herramientas de prescripción disponibles que pueden proveer soporte para mejorar las prácticas de prescripción en psicofarmacología del adulto mayor. Método: Se realizó una revisión bibliográfica de las herramientas para reducir errores de prescripción en adultos mayores: reconciliación farmacológica, chequeo de interacciones, prevención, detección y reversión de cascadas de prescripción y herramientas con criterios explícitos e implícitos (Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI), Beers, Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions (STOPP) / Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment (START), FORTA (Fit for TheAged), IFAsPIAM (Ingredientes Farmacéuticos Activos Potencialmente Inapropiados en Adultos Mayores). Resultados: Se confeccionó un recorte que agrupa las recomendaciones en el ámbito de la psicofarmacología. Conclusiones: Al no existir herramientas específicas para mejorar las prácticas en psicofarmacología geriátrica, un compendio de sus recomendaciones puede resultar de orientación al psiquiatra de adultos mayores.

Evaluation of Knowledge About Antibiotics Prescription During Periodontal Therapy Among Dental Students: An Observational Study.

Background and Objective: Despite the fact that antibiotics and analgesics are regularly prescribed by dentists, little is known regarding the dental practitioners' knowledge and comprehension of their usage in daily clinical practice. A lack of sufficient training for dental students is a possible cause of prescription mistakes. For the purpose of determining whether dental students are capable of rationally prescribing antibiotics by the time they graduate, this research examined dental students' understanding of administering antibiotics. Methods: The dentistry students' understanding of prescription antibiotics was assessed by means of a questionnaire. Participants in this research were undergraduates in their third and fourth year of Buraydah Private College of Dentistry and Pharmacy. Students at college were asked to fill out a standardized questionnaire. Results: The majority of antibiotics provided were in the right dosage and dosage form, although the frequency and length of treatment varied widely. Some 75.3% of the time, amoxicillin was administered in this research, followed by metronidazole (6.2%), tetracycline (4.1%), and erythromycin (3.2%). Conclusion: Continuing education on the sensible use of antibiotics in dental infections is essential, and it is best when this is done in conjunction with its use in clinical settings. To ensure that dentistry students are competent and responsible prescribers of antibiotics at the time of graduation, prescription guidelines are needed.

A cross-sectional study on current prescription trends and errors in outpatient department of a Bangladeshi secondary care district hospital.

Context: The rational prescription leads to a healthy and good-quality life of a patient. Irrational, inappropriate, and unnecessary prescriptions are major therapeutic issues in Bangladesh, which can cause severe consequences. Aim: This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the prescription patterns and errors as well as to review the most frequently prescribed drug classes among outpatients at a secondary hospital in Pabna, a district of Bangladesh. Methods: A total of 400 prescriptions were reviewed from March 2019 to May 2019. In this study, statistical data analysis was implemented by IBM SPSS Statistics V22 and data revealed in frequencies, mean, and percentage. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was calculated to show the correlation between bivariate coded variables. Results: The results revealed that majority of the prescription were prescribed for females (73.5%) where proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), analgesics, vitamins, and single antibiotics were most frequently prescribed medicine for the female patients compared to male patients. Almost half of the collected prescription contained four medicines (47%). Maximum number of prescriptions contained two (30.5%) essential drugs and among 1402 medicines of 400 prescriptions, antiulcerants were most frequently prescribed medicine (23.32%) where esomeprazole was highly prescribed generic drug (44.75%). Moreover, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient suggested that PPIs and analgesics were frequently prescribed medicines at a time for the patients (0.182). According to the age group, the study also got some significant variations in prescribing pattern. However, most common prescription errors were prescriber's name not mentioned (100%), diagnosis not mentioned (96.75%), dose not indicated (15.41%), and wrong drug name (0.36%). Conclusion: Findings of the current study represent the existing prescribing trends of different therapeutic classes of drugs and common prescription errors in a secondary health facility of Bangladesh. From this study, it is observed that physicians prescribed rationally in some cases but need to ensure rationality in all prescriptions. Continuous monitoring of drug use, development of prescribing guidelines, and training are recommended to ensure and implement good-quality prescribing practices for promoting the rational and cost-effective use of drugs.

A Survey of Prescription Errors in Paediatric Outpatients in Multi-Primary Care Settings: The Implementation of an Electronic Pre-Prescription System.

Background: Prescription errors impact the safety and efficacy of therapy and are considered to have a higher impact on paediatric populations. Nevertheless, information in paediatrics is still lacking, particularly in primary care settings. There exists a need to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of prescription errors in paediatric outpatients to prevent such errors during the prescription stage. Methods: A cross-sectional study to evaluate paediatric prescription errors in multi-primary care settings was conducted between August 2019 and July 2021. Prescriptions documented within the electronic pre-prescription system were automatically reviewed by the system and then, potentially inappropriate prescriptions would be reconciled by remote pharmacists via a regional pharmacy information exchange network. The demographics of paediatric patients, prescription details, and types/rates of errors were assessed and used to identify associated factors for prescription using logistic regression. Results: A total of 39,754 outpatient paediatric prescriptions in 13 community health care centres were reviewed, among which 1,724 prescriptions (4.3%) were enrolled in the study as they met the inclusion criteria. Dose errors were the most prevalent (27%), with the predominance of underdosing (69%). They were followed by errors in selection without specified indications (24.5%), incompatibility (12.4%), and frequency errors (9.9%). Among critical errors were drug duplication (8.7%), contraindication (.9%), and drug interaction (.8%) that directly affect the drug's safety and efficacy. Notably, error rates were highest in medications for respiratory system drugs (50.5%), antibiotics (27.3%), and Chinese traditional medicine (12.3%). Results of logistic regression revealed that specific drug classification (antitussives, expectorants and mucolytic agents, anti-infective agents), patient age (<6 years), and prescriber specialty (paediatrics) related positively to errors. Conclusion: Our study provides the prevalence and characteristics of prescription errors of paediatric outpatients in community settings based on an electronic pre-prescription system. Errors in dose calculations and medications commonly prescribed in primary care settings, such as respiratory system drugs, antibiotics, and Chinese traditional medicine, are certainly to be aware of. These results highlight an essential requirement to update the rules of prescriptions in the pre-prescription system to facilitate the delivery of excellent therapeutic outcomes.

Validation of medical prescriptions' suitability on patients with heart disease / Validación de la idoneidad de la prescripción médica en pacientes cardiópatas.

Objective: Give pharmacotherapeutic following and study the variability and suitability of medical prescriptions given to patients during their hospitalization, through optimal and individualized pharmaceutical attention, that allows the best treatment stablished for each patient. Method: Data was captured prospectively, descriptively, and longitudinally with the purpose of analyzing the treatment's suitability in patients with heart disease, through their pharmacotherapeutic following. Results: The pharmacotherapeutic evaluation of a population of 1,228 subjects proved that elderly male patients with multiple comorbidities and in polypharmacy are more susceptible of presenting severe drug interactions (65%) and prescription errors (14.4%). Conclusions: It is essential to have a specialized pharmacist within a multi-disciplinary medical team who manages the validation of each prescription's suitability, making pharmaceutical interventions which allows the early detection of drug interactions and prescription errors, minimizing the probability of presenting real side effects and ensuring the effectiveness and security of the medical treatment.

Objetivo: Dar seguimiento farmacoterapéutico (SFT) y estudiar la variabilidad e idoneidad de la prescripción farmacológica de los pacientes durante su estancia hospitalaria, por medio de una atención farmacéutica individualizada que permita obtener mejores resultados en el tratamiento farmacológico. Método: Los datos fueron capturados de manera prospectiva, descriptiva y longitudinal para analizar la idoneidad del tratamiento, a pacientes cardiópatas, mediante el SFT. Resultados: La evaluación del SFT de población de 1,228 pacientes demostró que los pacientes cuentan con múltiples comorbilidades, polifarmacia, predominio del sexo masculino y de edad avanzada, por lo que son más propensos a presentar interacciones farmacológicas (IF) graves (65%) y errores en la medicación (14.4%). Conclusiones: Es indispensable la integración de un farmacéutico facultado en el equipo multidisciplinario de salud, que lleve a cabo la validación de la idoneidad en la prescripción médica, con una intervención farmacéutica que permita identificar oportunamente IF y errores en la medicación, disminuyendo así la probabilidad de presentar efectos reales ante la presencia de estas, asegurando la efectividad, seguridad y eficacia de los medicamentos.

Community Pharmacists' Opinions towards Poor Prescription Writing in Jazan, Saudi Arabia.

Avoidance of medication errors is imperative for the safe use of medications, and community pharmacists are uniquely placed to identify and resolve the errors that may arise due to poorly handwritten prescriptions. Purpose: To explore the opinion and attitudes of community pharmacists towards poor prescription writing and their suggestions to overcome this concern. Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered survey was conducted among the community pharmacists in the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia. Descriptive analysis and chi-square test were used at 5% p-value (p > 0.05) as the significance level. Results: The response rate for the survey was 78.66%, and 140 community pharmacists agreed to participate. Among the study subjects, the majority (73.57%) had a bachelor's degree. Nearly three-fourths (3/4) of the pharmacists (72.29%) chose to send the patient back to the prescriber when they found difficulty in interpreting the information from an illegible prescription. As many as 80.71% of the pharmacists believed that poorly handwritten prescriptions were the cause of actual errors when dispensing medications. The most commonly encountered problem due to poorly handwritten prescriptions was the commercial name of medicine, which was reported by around two-thirds (67.86%) of the pharmacists. The use of e-prescription was suggested by 72.86% of the pharmacists as a probable solution to encounter this problem. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the belief and attitudes of community pharmacists in the region and their opinions to solve this impending problem of poor prescription writing. Continuous professional development courses can be adopted to tackle the problem. Additionally, health authorities can work on incorporating and facilitating the use of e-prescription in the community sector, which can be a boon to physicians, pharmacists, and patients. Proper and extensive training is however needed before the implementation of e-prescribing.

Problemas relacionados con medicamentos en adultos mayores hipertensos / Drugs related problems in hypertensive elderlypatients

Introducción: Los problemas relacionados con medicamentos en los adultos mayores son causantes de admisiones hospitalarias y se asocian con estadías hospitalarias prolongadas, reducen la calidad de vida e incrementan la mortalidad y los costos asociados a los sistemas de salud. Objetivo: Identificar los problemas relacionados con medicamentos en adultos mayores hipertensos. Método: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo y transversal desde enero a marzo del 2017, en el cual participaron 50 adultos mayores hipertensos registrados en la Farmacia Principal Municipal Santiago de Cuba. Losproblemas relacionados con medicamentos se clasificaron según el procedimiento normalizado de trabajo diseñado por otros autores. Resultados: Se identificaron 232 problemas relacionados con medicamentos. Predominaron los errores en la prescripción con un 40,52 %, seguido de los errores en la administración con 36,64 % y las reacciones adversas medicamentosas con 14,22%. Entre los errores de prescripción prevalecieron los relacionados con la interacción fármaco-fármaco con 13,79 % y la medicación potencialmente inapropiada con 11,21 %. Los errores de administración más frecuentes fueron la interacción alimento-medicamento con el 15,95 % y la no adherencia al tratamiento con el 11,64 %. La sequedad bucal, tos seca y poliuria fueron las reacciones adversas más frecuentes. Conclusión: Existe una alta incidencia de problemas relacionados con medicamentos en los adultos mayores hipertensos dispensarizados en la Farmacia Principal Municipal Hospitalaria Santiago de Cuba, con predominio de las interacciones fármaco-fármaco entre los errores de prescripción.(AU)

Introduction: Drug-related problems in elderly adults cause hospital admissions and are associated with prolonged hospital stays. Objective:To describe the problems related to drugs identified in an office of pharmaceutical care for elderly adults, in the Main Municipal Pharmacy of Santiago de Cuba. Method: A retrospective study was carried out through the review of an intentional sample of pharmacotherapeutical profiles registered in the community pharmacy in the period (January to March 2017), corresponding to 50 hypertensive elderly adults. The Problems Related to medications were classified according to the Standardized Pharmacotherapeutical Follow-up Work Procedure and Medication Criteria potentially inappropriate for the elderly, validated for the Cuban context. Results: 232 problems related to medications were identified. Prescription errors (40.6%) predominated, followed by administration errors (36.6%) and adverse drug reactions (14.2%). Among prescription errors, drug-drug interaction (13.8%) and potentially inappropriate medication (11.2%) predominated. The most frequent administration errors were food-drug interaction (16.0%) and non-adherence to treatment (11.6%). Dry mouth and dry cough were the most frequent adverse reactions. Conclusion: There is a high incidence of drug-related problems in hypertensive elderly adults treated at the Santiago de Cuba Hospital Municipal Main Pharmacy, with a predominance of drug-drug interactions among prescription errors, which shows the need for responsible optimization ofpharmacotherapy from the community pharmaceutical service.(AU)

Minimising prescription errors-a quality improvement project in the ophthalmology department in a tertiary referral hospital.

PURPOSE: The aim of this quality improvement project was to look into the hospital prescriptions and to identify and record the type and number of errors, to implement measures to reduce the risk of these errors and then to reaudit to assess the impact of changes implemented. METHODS: The initial audit was conducted prospectively over a eleven-week period. Prescriptions written by doctors of all grades and members of the staff, such as optometrists and nurses, were analysed. A glaucoma prescription guide along with more training at prescribing for doctors was introduced with a view to reducing these errors. A reaudit later demonstrated a significant reduction in these errors. RESULTS: After the introduction of a glaucoma prescription guide and more training for all grades of staff members, prescription errors reduced to 73/2342 (3.1%). Reaudit showed a reduction in both prescription writing errors 50/73(68.4%) and drug-related errors 23/73(31.6%). CONCLUSION: Prescription errors are avoidable. This audit demonstrated that providing an accessible, easy to read and understand glaucoma prescription guide in the outpatient department along with targeted training for medical staff in prescribing can help in minimising these errors and can lead to safer practice.

Cost-saving medication therapy management for outpatients.

OBJECTIVE: Medication costs comprise the majority of health system budgets and continue to increase faster than other health-care expenditures. The objective of this study is to evaluate the causes and monetary value of cost-saving prescription interventions made by clinical pharmacists in outpatient pharmacy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Outpatient prescriptions were randomly audited for a period of 11 months (August 2017-June 2018) using a customized outpatient prescription audit tool integrated with computerized physician order entry. Drug-related problems were communicated to respective prescribers, and their response to each intervention was documented in accordance with PCNE classification. Both unit dose cost and anticipated dose cost savings were calculated to evaluate the monetary benefit for patients. RESULTS: Unit dose cost of INR 4875.73 and anticipated dose cost of INR 26890.8 were saved from outpatients. Majority of the prescribing errors were associated with therapeutic duplication (43.4%) and drug interaction (25.7%) that account for anticipated dose cost savings of INR 17812.65 for patients. Major contributory drug classes that reduced the cost of therapy were antibiotics (24.23%), proton-pump inhibitors (13.27%), and analgesics (12.34%). Prescribers' response to pharmacist intervention varied, 53% responded to stop the drug, 21% responded to change the brand, and 20% changed the frequency of administration. Necessary instructions were verbally given to patients without making any modification in the prescription for 3.2% (n = 10) of cost-saving interventions. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: As clinical pharmacist has the expertise to detect, resolve, and prevent medication errors, the development of clinical pharmacy practice in a hospital outpatient pharmacy will have a significant impact on reducing prescription errors and health-care cost also.

Incidence of prescription errors in patients discharged from the emergency department.

PURPOSE: The Emergency Department (ED) is known for its high rates of medication errors secondary to many characteristics such as unfamiliar patients, lack of continuity of care, increasing patient volumes, reliance on verbal orders, and fewer safety mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to quantify and characterize the medication errors that occur in patients discharged from the ED. METHODS: Prescriptions for patients discharged from the adult ED at an academic medical center from 2015 to 2018 were reviewed. Errors in discharge medication orders were documented as well as characteristics of these errors including medication class, errors in prescription directions, quantity prescribed, and refills given inappropriately. RESULTS: A total of 115,933 prescriptions were reviewed and a total of 20,498 errors were identified within 19,126 prescriptions. Of the errors identified, 4048 (19.7%) involved prescription directions, 6537 (31.9%) were errors in quantity prescribed, and 9913 (48.4%) were prescriptions written with refills. The proportion of errors among different prescriber statuses was significantly different when comparing all prescribers (p < .001). Prescriptions written by Non-Emergency Medicine residents had significantly more errors in quantity and refills (p < .001, p < .001), and prescriptions written by Emergency Medicine residents had significantly more errors in directions (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: This review identified a 16.5% error rate among all prescriptions provided to patients upon ED discharge that varied among different subcategories of medications. This is consistent with the limited literature that is currently available on the topic. These results could assist institutions in developing targeted mitigation strategies to limit medication misadventures in patients discharged from the ED.

Associations of physicians' prescribing experience, work hours, and workload with prescription errors.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess associations of physician's work overload, successive work shifts, and work experience with physicians' risk to err. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This large-scale study included physicians who prescribed at least 100 systemic medications at Sheba Medical Center during 2012-2017 in all acute care departments, excluding intensive care units. Presumed medication errors were flagged by a high-accuracy computerized decision support system that uses machine-learning algorithms to detect potential medication prescription errors. Physicians' successive work shifts (first or only shift, second, and third shifts), workload (assessed by the number of prescriptions during a shift) and work-experience, as well as a novel measurement of physicians' prescribing experience with a specific drug, were assessed per prescription. The risk to err was determined for various work conditions. RESULTS: 1 652 896 medical orders were prescribed by 1066 physicians; The system flagged 3738 (0.23%) prescriptions as erroneous. Physicians were 8.2 times more likely to err during high than normal-low workload shifts (5.19% vs 0.63%, P < .0001). Physicians on their third or second successive shift (compared to a first or single shift) were more likely to err (2.1%, 1.8%, and 0.88%, respectively, P < .001). Lack of experience in prescribing a specific medication was associated with higher error rate (0.37% for the first 5 prescriptions vs 0.13% after over 40, P < .001). DISCUSSION: Longer hours and less experience in prescribing a specific medication increase risk of erroneous prescribing. CONCLUSION: Restricting successive shifts, reducing workload, increasing training and supervision, and implementing smart clinical decision support systems may help reduce prescription errors.

Electronic-prescribing tools improve N-acetylcysteine prescription accuracy and timeliness for patients who present following a paracetamol overdose: A digital innovation quality-improvement project.

OBJECTIVES: Prescription error rates and delays in treatment provision are high for N-acetylcysteine (NAC) when prescribed for paracetamol overdose (POD). We hypothesised that an electronic tool which proposed the complete NAC regimen would reduce prescription errors and improve the timeliness of NAC provision. Error rates and delays in the provision of NAC were assessed following POD, before and after the implementation of an electronic prescribing tool. METHODS: The NAC electronic prescribing tool proposed the three NAC infusions (dosed for weight) following entry of the patient's weight. All NAC prescriptions were reviewed during a three-month period prior to and after the tool's implementation. Error rates were divided into dose, infusion volume or infusion rate. Delays in NAC provision were identified using national Emergency Medicine guidelines. RESULTS: 108 NAC prescriptions were analysed for all adult patients admitted to the emergency department of a secondary care hospital in the UK between July-September 2017 and August-October 2018, respectively. There were no differences in the demographics of patients or the seniority of the prescribing clinician before or after the introduction of the electronic tool. The electronic prescribing tool was associated with a decrease in prescribing errors (25% to 0%, p < 0.0071) and an increase in the provision of NAC within recommended times (11.1% to 47.4%, p = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS: An electronic prescribing tool improved prescription errors and the timeliness of NAC provision following POD. Further studies will determine the effect of this on length of stay and the benefit of wider implementation in other secondary care hospitals.

Reducing drug prescription errors and adverse drug events by application of a probabilistic, machine-learning based clinical decision support system in an inpatient setting.

BACKGROUND: Drug prescription errors are made, worldwide, on a daily basis, resulting in a high burden of morbidity and mortality. Existing rule-based systems for prevention of such errors are unsuccessful and associated with substantial burden of false alerts. OBJECTIVE: In this prospective study, we evaluated the accuracy, validity, and clinical usefulness of medication error alerts generated by a novel system using outlier detection screening algorithms, used on top of a legacy standard system, in a real-life inpatient setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We integrated a novel outlier system into an existing electronic medical record system, in a single medical ward in a tertiary medical center. The system monitored all drug prescriptions written during 16 months. The department's staff assessed all alerts for accuracy, clinical validity, and usefulness. We recorded all physician's real-time responses to alerts generated. RESULTS: The alert burden generated by the system was low, with alerts generated for 0.4% of all medication orders. Sixty percent of the alerts were flagged after the medication was already dispensed following changes in patients' status which necessitated medication changes (eg, changes in vital signs). Eighty-five percent of the alerts were confirmed clinically valid, and 80% were considered clinically useful. Forty-three percent of the alerts caused changes in subsequent medical orders. CONCLUSION: A clinical decision support system that used a probabilistic, machine-learning approach based on statistically derived outliers to detect medication errors generated clinically useful alerts. The system had high accuracy, low alert burden and low false-positive rate, and led to changes in subsequent orders.

How to Prevent or Reduce Prescribing Errors: An Evidence Brief for Policy.

- Preventing prescribing errors is critical to improving patient safety.- We developed an evidence brief for policy to identify effective interventions to avoid or reduce prescribing errors.- Four options were raised: promoting educational actions on prudent prescribing directed to prescribers; incorporating computerized alert systems into clinical practice; implementing the use of tools for guiding medication prescribing; and, encouraging patient care by a multidisciplinary team, with the participation of a pharmacist.- These options can be incorporated into health systems either alone or together, and for that, it is necessary that the context be considered.- Aiming to inform decision makers, we included considerations on the implementation of these options regarding upper-middle income countries, like the Brazilian, and we also present considerations regarding equity.

Is the prescription right? A review of non-vitamin K antagonist anticoagulant (NOAC) prescriptions in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Safe prescribing in atrial fibrillation and evaluation of non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants in stroke prevention (SAFE-NOACS) group.

BACKGROUND: Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are a major advance for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF). Use of the vitamin K antagonist (VKA), warfarin, has dropped 40% since 2010 in our institution. There is limited Irish hospital data on NOAC prescribing for stroke prevention. METHOD: Single centre, retrospective observational cohort study of consecutive AF patients at increased risk of stroke and/or awaiting electrical cardioversion. Data on prescribed NOACs from February 2010 till July 2015 was collected from the electronic inpatient record. Appropriateness of prescriptions was based on CHA2DS2-VASC score and accuracy on individual NOAC SPCs. Potential drug interactions and bleeding risk were also quantified. RESULTS: A total of 348 patients AF and increased risk of stroke (CHA2DS2-VASC score > 1 for men and > 2 for women) were studied. Forty-eight percent were female with a mean age 71 ± 18.6 years, 52% of whom were > 75. Mean CHA2DS2-Vasc and HAS-BLED scores were 4.1 ± 1.8 and 1.4 ± 0.8, respectively. Rivaroxaban, dabigatran and apixaban were prescribed to 154 (54.2%), 106 (34.3%) and 41 (13.2%) patients, respectively. 20.4% had inaccurate prescriptions; 92.9% (n = 65) underdosed and 7.1% (n = 5) on inappropriately higher doses. Neither choice of NOAC, age, history of anaemia, previous bleeding or co-prescribed antiplatelets influenced the accuracy of prescription (p = NS), but decreased renal function appeared to do so (p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our study highlights significant inaccuracies in NOAC prescribing. Patients commenced on NOACs should be assessed and followed up in a multidisciplinary AF clinic to ensure safe and effective prescribing and stroke prevention.

Evaluation of prescription errors and prescribing indicators in the private practices in Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Appropriate use of medicines is important to provide quality health. The aim of this study was to assess the prescribing practices and prescription errors in the private clinic practices of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was performed in March 2015 to assess the prescribing practices and prescription errors in the private clinical practices of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. We used the standard World Health Organization (WHO) methodology to achieve the study objectives. A convenience sampling technique was used to collect the prescriptions from five community pharmacies. RESULTS: A total of 300 prescriptions were collected. Among the prescribing indicators, the average number of drugs per encounter was 4.5, 23.3% of drugs were prescribed by generic name, 39.6% of encounters resulted in the prescription of antibiotics, in 19% of encounters injections were prescribed and 54.5% of the drugs prescribed were from the Essential Drugs List. A total of 1218 omissions, 510 commissions and 199 drug interaction-related errors were recorded. CONCLUSION: Irrational prescribing of medicines and low compliance with the standards of prescription writing were observed in the private clinical practices of Bahawalpur.

Systemic fluoroquinolone prescriptions for hospitalized children in Belgium, results of a multicenter retrospective drug utilization study.

BACKGROUND: Fluoroquinolones (FQ) are increasingly prescribed for children, despite being labeled for only a limited number of labeled pediatric indications. In this multicenter retrospective drug utilization study, we analyzed indications for systemic FQ prescriptions in hospitalized children and the appropriateness of the prescribed dose. METHODS: Using data obtained from electronic medical files, the study included all children who received a systemic FQ prescription in two Belgian university children's hospitals between 2010 and 2013. Two authors reviewed prescribed daily doses. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze risk factors for inadequately dosing. Results262 FQ prescriptions for individual patients were included for analysis. 16.8% of these prescriptions were for labeled indications, and 35.1% were guided by bacteriological findings. Prescribed daily dose was considered to be inappropriate in 79 prescriptions (30.2%). Other FQ than ciprofloxacin accounted for 9 prescriptions (3.4%), of which 8 were correctly dosed. Underdosing represented 45 (56.9%) dosing errors. Infants and preschool children were at particular risk for dosing errors, with associated adjusted OR of 0.263 (0.097-0.701) and 0.254 (0.106-0.588) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: FQ were often prescribed off-label and not guided by bacteriological findings in our study population. Dosing errors were common, particularly in infants and preschool children. FQ prescriptions for children should be improved by specific pediatric antimicrobial stewardship teams. Furthermore, pharmacokinetic studies should optimise dosing recommendations for children.

Prevalence of computerized physician order entry systems-related medication prescription errors: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: The positive impact of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems on prescription safety must be considered in light of the persistence of certain types of medication-prescription errors. We performed a systematic review, based on the PRISMA statement, to analyze the prevalence of prescription errors related to the use of CPOE systems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, DBLP, the International Clinical Trials Registry, the ISI Web of Science, and reference lists of relevant articles from March 1982 to August 2017. We included original peer-reviewed studies which quantitatively reported medication-prescription errors related to CPOE. We analyzed the prevalence of medication-prescription errors according to an adapted version of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP) taxonomy and assessed the mechanisms responsible for each type of prescription error due to CPOE. RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included. The prevalence of CPOE systems-related medication errors relative to all prescription medication errors ranged from 6.1 to 77.7% (median = 26.1% [IQR:17.6-42,1]) and was less than 6.3% relative to the number of prescriptions reviewed. All studies reported "wrong dose" and "wrong drug" errors. The "wrong dose" error was the most frequently reported (from 7 to 67.4%, median = 31.5% [IQR:20.5-44.5]). We report the associated mechanism for each type of medication described (those due to CPOE or those occurring despite CPOE). DISCUSSION: We observed very heterogeneous results, probably due to the definition of error, the type of health information system used for the study, and the data collection method used. Each data collection method provides valuable and useful information concerning the prevalence and specific types of errors related to CPOE systems. CONCLUSIONS: The reporting of prescription errors should be continued because the weaknesses of CPOE systems are potential sources of error. Analysis of the mechanisms behind CPOE errors can reveal areas for improvement.