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Short- and long-term effects of an electronic medication management system on paediatric prescribing errors.

ABSTRACT: Electronic medication management (eMM) systems are designed to improve safety, but there is little evidence of their effectiveness in paediatrics. This study assesses the short-term (first 70 days of eMM use) and long-term (one-year) effectiveness of an eMM system to reduce prescribing errors, and their potential and actual harm. We use a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial (SWCRCT) at a paediatric referral hospital, with eight clusters randomised for eMM implementation. We assess long-term effects from an additional random sample of medication orders one-year post-eMM. In the SWCRCT, errors that are potential adverse drug events (ADEs) are assessed for actual harm. The study comprises 35,260 medication orders for 4821 patients. Results show no significant change in overall prescribing error rates in the first 70 days of eMM use (incident rate ratio [IRR] 1.05 [95%CI 0.92-1.21], but a 62% increase (IRR 1.62 [95%CI 1.28-2.04]) in potential ADEs suggesting immediate risks to safety. One-year post-eMM, errors decline by 36% (IRR 0.64 [95%CI 0.56-0.72]) and high-risk medication errors decrease by 33% (IRR 0.67 [95%CI 0.51-0.88]) compared to pre-eMM. In all periods, dose error rates are more than double that of other error types. Few errors are associated with actual harm, but 71% [95%CI 50-86%] of patients with harm experienced a dose error. In the short-term, eMM implementation shows no improvement in error rates, and an increase in some errors. A year after eMM error rates significantly decline suggesting long-term benefits. eMM optimisation should focus on reducing dose errors due to their high frequency and capacity to cause harm.

SUBMITTER: Westbrook JI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9747795 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Short- and long-term effects of an electronic medication management system on paediatric prescribing errors.

Westbrook Johanna I JI Li Ling L Raban Magdalena Z MZ Mumford Virginia V Badgery-Parker Tim T Gates Peter P Fitzpatrick Erin E Merchant Alison A Woods Amanda A Baysari Melissa M McCullagh Cheryl C Day Ric R Gazarian Madlen M Dickinson Michael M Seaman Karla K Dalla-Pozza Lucciano L Ambler Geoffrey G Barclay Peter P Gardo Alan A O'Brien Tracey T Barbaric Draga D White Les L

NPJ digital medicine 20221213 1

Electronic medication management (eMM) systems are designed to improve safety, but there is little evidence of their effectiveness in paediatrics. This study assesses the short-term (first 70 days of eMM use) and long-term (one-year) effectiveness of an eMM system to reduce prescribing errors, and their potential and actual harm. We use a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial (SWCRCT) at a paediatric referral hospital, with eight clusters randomised for eMM implementation. We assess ...[more]

PMID: 36513770

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Project description:OBJECTIVE:Clinicians using clinical decision support (CDS) to prescribe medications have an obligation to ensure that prescriptions are safe. One option is to verify the safety of prescriptions if there is uncertainty, for example, by using drug references. Supervisory control experiments in aviation and process control have associated errors, with reduced verification arising from overreliance on decision support. However, it is unknown whether this relationship extends to clinical decision-making. Therefore, we examine whether there is a relationship between verification behaviors and prescribing errors, with and without CDS medication alerts, and whether task complexity mediates this. METHODS:A total of 120 students in the final 2 years of a medical degree prescribed medicines for patient scenarios using a simulated electronic prescribing system. CDS (correct, incorrect, and no CDS) and task complexity (low and high) were varied. Outcomes were omission (missed prescribing errors) and commission errors (accepted false-positive alerts). Verification measures were access of drug references and view time percentage of task time. RESULTS:Failure to access references for medicines with prescribing errors increased omission errors with no CDS (high-complexity: χ 2(1) = 12.716; p < 0.001) and incorrect CDS (Fisher's exact; low-complexity: p = 0.002; high-complexity: p = 0.001). Failure to access references for false-positive alerts increased commission errors (low-complexity: χ 2(1) = 16.673, p < 0.001; high-complexity: χ 2(1) = 18.690, p < 0.001). Fewer participants accessed relevant references with incorrect CDS compared with no CDS (McNemar; low-complexity: p < 0.001; high-complexity: p < 0.001). Lower view time percentages increased omission (F(3, 361.914) = 4.498; p = 0.035) and commission errors (F(1, 346.223) = 2.712; p = 0.045). View time percentages were lower in CDS-assisted conditions compared with unassisted conditions (F(2, 335.743) = 10.443; p < 0.001). DISCUSSION:The presence of CDS reduced verification of prescription safety. When CDS was incorrect, reduced verification was associated with increased prescribing errors. CONCLUSION:CDS can be incorrect, and verification provides one mechanism to detect errors. System designers need to facilitate verification without increasing workload or eliminating the benefits of correct CDS.

Project description:BackgroundOlder people in long-term residential care are at increased risk of medication prescribing and administration errors. The main aim of this study was to measure the incidence of medication administration errors in nursing and residential homes using a barcode medication administration (BCMA) system.MethodsA prospective study was conducted in 13 care homes (9 residential and 4 nursing). Data on all medication administrations for a cohort of 345 older residents were recorded in real-time using a disguised observation technique. Every attempt by social care and nursing staff to administer medication over a 3-month observation period was analysed using BCMA records to determine the incidence and types of potential medication administration errors (MAEs) and whether errors were averted. Error classifications included attempts to administer medication at the wrong time, to the wrong person or discontinued medication. Further analysis compared data for residential and nursing homes. In addition, staff were surveyed prior to BCMA system implementation to assess their awareness of administration errors.ResultsA total of 188,249 medication administration attempts were analysed using BCMA data. Typically each resident was receiving nine different drugs and was exposed to 206 medication administration episodes every month. During the observation period, 2,289 potential MAEs were recorded for the 345 residents; 90% of residents were exposed to at least one error. The most common (n = 1,021, 45% of errors) was attempting to give medication at the wrong time. Over the 3-month observation period, half (52%) of residents were exposed to a serious error such as attempting to give medication to the wrong resident. Error incidence rates were 1.43 as high (95% CI 1.32-1.56 p < 0.001) in nursing homes as in residential homes. The level of non-compliance with system alerts was very low in both settings (0.075% of administrations). The pre-study survey revealed that only 12/41 staff administering drugs reported they were aware of potential administration errors in their care home.ConclusionsThe incidence of medication administration errors is high in long-term residential care. A barcode medication administration system can capture medication administration errors and prevent these from occurring.

Project description:The aim of the study was to explore the impact of the implementation of an electronic prescribing and medication administration system (ePA) on the safety of medication administration in an inpatient hospital setting. Objectives were to compare the prevalence and types of: 1) medication administration errors, and 2) documentation discrepancies, between a paper and an ePA system. Additionally, we wanted to describe any observed changes to medication administration practices.The study was based on an elderly medicine ward in an English hospital. From December 2014 to June 2015, nurses' medication administration rounds were observed every 5 days before and after ePA implementation using an interrupted time-series approach. Medication administration error and documentation discrepancy rates pre- versus post-ePA were analysed descriptively and chi-squared tests used to test for any difference; segmented regression analysis was used to determine changes in longitudinal trend.Observations were made at 15 pre- and 15 post-ePA implementation time-points. Pre-ePA on paper, there were 18 medication administration errors in 428 opportunities for error (4.2%; 95% confidence interval 2.3-6.1%), and with ePA there were 18 in 528 (3.4%; 95% confidence interval 1.9-5.0%; p = 0.64). Regarding documentation, pre-ePA on paper there were 5 discrepancies in 460 observed documentations (1.1%; 95% confidence interval 0.1-2.0%); with ePA there were 18 in 557 (3.2%; 95% confidence interval 1.8-4.7%; p = 0.04). The most common electronic documentation discrepancy was documentation that a dose had been administered when it had not. Segmented regression analysis was unable to detect any significant longitudinal changes. Changes to working practices post-ePA were observed, such as nurses demonstrating less-consistent self-checking when preparing and administering medications.Findings suggest no change in medication error rate, although ePA encourages certain types of errors and mitigates others. There was a statistically significant increase in documentation discrepancies which is likely to be due to adoption of new working practices with ePA.

Project description:BackgroundPrescribing error represent a significant source of preventable harm to patients. Prescribing errors at discharge, including omission of pre-admission medications (PAM), are particularly harmful as they frequently propagate following discharge. This study assesses the impact of an educational intervention and introduction of an electronic patient record (EPR) in the same centre on omission of PAM at discharge using a pragmatic design. A survey of newly qualified doctors is used to contextualise findings.MethodsDischarge prescriptions and discharge summaries were reviewed at discharge, and compared to admission medicine lists, using a paper-based chart system. Discrepancies were noted, using Health Information and Quality Authority guidelines for discharge prescribing. An educational intervention was conducted. Further review of discharge prescriptions and discharge summaries took place. Following introduction of an EPR, review of discharge summaries and discharge prescriptions was repeated. A survey was administered to recently qualified doctors (interns), and analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.ResultsOmission of PAM as prescribed or discontinued items at discharge occurs frequently. An educational intervention did not significantly change prescribing error rates (U = 1255.5, p = 0.206). EPR introduction did significantly reduce omission of PAM on discharge prescribing (U = 694, p < 0.001), however there was also a reduction in the rate of deliberate discontinuation of PAM at discharge (U = 1237.5, p = 0.007). Survey results demonstrated that multiple sources are required to develop a discharge prescription. Time pressure, access to documentation and lack of admission medicine reconciliation are frequently cited causes of discharge prescribing error.ConclusionThis study verified passive educational interventions alone do not improve discharge prescribing. Introduction of EPR improved discharge prescribing, but negatively impacted deliberate discontinuation of PAM at discharge. This is attributable to reduced access to key sources of information used in formulating discharge prescriptions, and separation of the discontinuation function from the prescribing function on the EPR discharge application.

Dataset Information

Short- and long-term effects of an electronic medication management system on paediatric prescribing errors.

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Short- and long-term effects of an electronic medication management system on paediatric prescribing errors.

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