Adverse events related to medication (EAM) are common in the hospital. In the U.S., occur around EAM 6.5 per 100 patients admitted. Of these, 25% are due to errors and can evitar1.
Traditionally, the physician prescribes the treatment plan and records it in the patient’s medical history. Then the nurse manually transcribes the information prescriptions to the appropriate medication sheet and finally, the treatment is given based on what is specified in the sheet.
The process from prescribing a drug to its administration can fail at any stage. Two common and potentially serious errors are errors in transcription and errors in drug administration.
The new information and communication technologies such as electronic systems based on bar code reading, may help prevent medication errors. These systems are already used successfully to prevent errors in patient identification.
One study has evaluated whether a verification system based on barcode reading to the patient bedside reduces errors in transcription and medication administration. This was implemented in a university hospital of 735 beds with an electronic record of medication administration supervised by the online pharmacy. In addition, before administering the drug, the nurse must pass a bar code reader for patient identification bracelet and the drug. This system was allowed to verify that the correct medication to administer to a correct dose, and patient at the time indicated. If not, the system would launch an alert.
We performed a prospective study without a control group of 9 months to compare the frequency of errors of nursing personnel in the transcription and medication prescription prices before and after implementation of the verification system. Administration errors were classified as “time-related (egg administration delayed more than an hour) or” non-time “(egg, wrong doses). We analyzed 3082 transcripts from 14 041 prescriptions and administration of drugs made in the medical units, surgical and intensive care hospital.
The authors conclude that the introduction of bar code system, along with the electronic recording of medication administration, can be an effective intervention to improve the safety of health care. However, although the study results are promising, it should be noted that the study lacks a control group. For this reason, a randomized controlled clinical trial would determine the effectiveness of the intervention with greater assurance.
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