According to Daughton, a researcher at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Indeed, deaths from medication errors occurring both in and out of hospitals exceed 7,000 annually in the United States -- exceeding those from workplace injuries" (2003, p. 757). Tertiary healthcare facilities and other healthcare providers have identified some effective methods for reducing the number of medication errors through the use of technology, improving processes, targeting those types of specific medication errors that result in harm to patients, and promoting an organizational culture of safety (Meadows, 2003). One approach that has been shown to be particularly effective has been the use of bar codes and scanners together with computerized patient information systems; in these settings, bar code technology can help to prevent a number of different types of medication errors, including administering the wrong drug or dose, or administering a drug to a patient with a known allergy (Meadows, 2003). In fact, the nation's largest healthcare provider, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), has implemented the use of bar codes at all of its 152 medical centers and the impact has been an impressive reduction in the number of medication errors. According to Meadows, "For example, the VA medical center in Topeka, Kan., has reported that bar coding reduced its medication error rate by 86% over a nine-year period" (2003, p. 21).

The research to date has also demonstrated that Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) represents an effective approach for reducing medication errors. This technology uses a computer system that frequently includes hand-held peripherals to allow healthcare providers to directly enter medication orders into the hospital's computer system instead of using paper or oral communications which are prone to misinterpretation (Meadows,...

Based on its survey of 1,500 hospitals in the United States in 2001, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices determined that approximately 3% of hospitals were already using a CPOE system, and more and more are adopting the system every day. According to Eugene Wiener, M.D., medical director at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, there are a number of advantages to this approach: "There is no misinterpretation of handwriting, decimal points, or abbreviations. This puts everything in a digital world" (quoted in Meadows, 2003 at p. 21).
Conclusion

The research showed that although there remains a lack of standardized definitions concerning what constitutes a medication error, many authorities agree that serious medication errors tend to fall into several discrete categories, including the wrong path of administration, the wrong dosage and the wrong drug. The research also showed that the elderly and the very young were especially at risk for medication errors, the former because of the multiple drugs they are frequently prescribed and the latter because dosing depends on weight and accurate calculations are absolutely critical. Finally, the research showed that various technological innovations including bar codes and Computerized Physician Order Entry can help reduce the number of medication errors.

References

Anson, B.R. (2000). Taking charge of change in a volatile healthcare marketplace. Human Resource Planning, 23(4), 21.

Daughton, C.G. (2003). Cradle-to-cradle stewardship of drugs for minimizing their environmental disposition while promoting human health. Environmental Health

Perspectives, 111(5), 757-758.

Meadows, M. (2003, May-June). Strategies to reduce medication errors: How the FDA is working to improve medication safety and what you can…