Preventing Medication Errors with Antineoplastic Agents, Part 1

2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 511-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Christina Beckwith ◽  
Linda S. Tyler

Goal — The goal of this program is to present practical ways to prevent medication errors with antineoplastic agents, identify common types of medication errors, and describe a system for reducing the incidence of medication errors and responding appropriately to antineoplastic medication errors. Objectives — At the completion of this program, the participant will be able to: 1. Describe the scope and impact of medication errors 2. Define common terms used in medication error literature. 3. List four common types of prescribing errors made with anti-neoplastic agents. 4. Identify steps where medication errors may occur during the drug ordering, preparation, and administration process. 5. Describe ways to prevent errors at each step of the medication use process. 6. Recommend a procedure for reporting and monitoring antineoplastic medication errors within the institution. 7. Describe a system for the non-punitive management of antineoplastic medication errors in health care systems.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6-s) ◽  
pp. 103-106
Author(s):  
Peddolla Sushma Reddy ◽  
Vidya Biju ◽  
Inuganti Bhavana

Background: Medication error is defined as any avertable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient and consumer. Medication errors may occur at any stage of the medication use process including ordering, transcription, dispensing, administering and monitoring.  Objective: The objective of the study is to assess the medication errors in a tertiary care hospital and to categorize them based on their nature and type. Methodology: A prospective observational study was conducted over a period of 3 months in a tertiary care teaching hospital. This study was carried out among 240 inpatients, admitted in General Medicine department of the hospital, who were selected randomly. During the study, inpatients case records were reviewed, which includes patient’s case history, diagnosis, medication order sheets, progress chart, laboratory investigations. The data collected were analyzed for identifying medication errors such as prescribing errors and administration errors. Each reported medication error was assessed using the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP) proposed index for categorizing medication errors. Results: A total number of 240 inpatients were enrolled in the study, out of which 82 patients have developed medication errors. The overall percentage of observed medication error was 34.16%. In our study medication errors were found more in males (70.7%) than in the females (29.3%). Prescribing errors (62.19%) were the most frequently occurring type of error, which was followed by administration errors (37.8%). In our study, we found that medication errors were more with antibiotics (37) followed by NSAIDs (19). 96 prescriptions were found having drug interactions. Conclusion: This study concludes that the overall incidence of medication error was found to be 34.16%. Most of the medication errors are clinically significant and it can prevent by working together in a health care team.  


Author(s):  
James G. Anderson

Over three-quarters of a million people are injured or die in hospitals annually from adverse drug events. The majority of medication errors result from poorly designed health care systems rather than from negligence on the part of health care providers. Health care systems, in general, rely on voluntary reporting which seriously underestimates the number of medication errors and adverse drug events (ADEs) by as much as 90%. This chapter reviews the literature on (1) the incidence and costs of medication errors and ADEs; (2) detecting and reporting medication errors and related ADEs; (3) and the use of information technology to reduce the number of medication errors and ADEs in health care settings. Results from an analysis of data on medication errors from a regional data sharing consortium and from computer simulation models designed to analyze the effectiveness of information technology (IT) in preventing medication errors are summarized.


Author(s):  
Foteini Tseliou ◽  
Michael Donnelly ◽  
Dermot O'Reilly

IntroductionUptake of psychotropic medication has been previously used as a proxy for assessing the prevalence of population mental health morbidity. However, it is not known how this compares with estimates derived from population screening tools. ObjectivesTo compare estimates of psychiatric morbidity derived by a validated screening instrument of psychiatric morbidity and a self-reported medication uptake measure. MethodsThis study used data from two recent population-wide health surveys in Northern Ireland, a country (UK) with free health services and no prescription charges. The psychiatric morbidity of 7,489 respondents was assessed using the GHQ-12 and self-reported use of medication for stress, anxiety and depression (sDAS medication). ResultsOverall, 19% of respondents were defined as ‘cases’ and 14.3% were taking sDAS medication. Generally, the two methods identified the same population distributions of characteristics that were associated with psychiatric morbidity though nearly as many non-cases as cases received sDAS medication (46.4% vs. 53.6%). A greater proportion of women and older people were identified as cases according to sDAS medication use, while no such variation was observed between socio-economic status and method of assessment. ConclusionsThis study indicates that these two methods of assessing population psychiatric morbidity provide similar estimates, despite potentially identifying different individuals as cases. It is important to note that different health care systems might be linked to variations in obstacles when accessing and using health care services. Highlights There was a reasonable correspondence between the different methods of assessment. A greater proportion of women and older people were identified as cases through the self-reported use of medication. An almost equal amount of GHQ-12 cases and non-cases reported being in receipt of medication.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (01) ◽  
pp. 235-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khoa A. Nguyen ◽  
David A. Haggstrom ◽  
Susan Ofner ◽  
Susan M. Perkins ◽  
Dustin D. French ◽  
...  

SummaryIntroduction: Dual healthcare system use can create gaps and fragments of information for patient care. The Department of Veteran Affairs is implementing a health information exchange (HIE) program called the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER), which allows providers to access and share information across healthcare systems. HIE has the potential to improve the safety of medication use. However, data regarding the pattern of outpatient medication use across systems of care is largely unknown. Therefore, the objective of this study is to describe the prevalence of medication dispensing across VA and non-VA health care systems among a cohort Veteran population Methods: This study included all Veterans who had two outpatient visits or one inpatient visit at the Indianapolis VA during a 1-year period prior to VLER enrollment. Source of medication data was assessed at the subject level, and categorized as VA, INPC (non-VA), or both. The primary target was identification of sources for medication data. Then, we compared the mean number of prescriptions, as well as overall and pairwise differences in medication dispensing.Results: Out of 52,444 Veterans, 17.4% of subjects had medication data available in a regional HIE. On average, 40 prescriptions per year were prescribed for Veterans who used both sources compared to 29 prescriptions per year from VA only and 25 prescriptions per year from INPC only sources. The annualized prescription rate of Veterans in the dual use group was 36% higher than those who had only VA data available and 61% higher than those who had only INPC data available.Conclusions: Our data demonstrated that 17.4% of subjects had medication use identified from non-VA sources, including prescriptions for antibiotics, antineoplastics, and anticoagulants. These data support the need for HIE programs to improve coordination of information, with the potential to reduce adverse medication interactions and improve medication safety.


2004 ◽  
Vol 171 (4S) ◽  
pp. 42-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yair Latan ◽  
David M. Wilhelm ◽  
David A. Duchene ◽  
Margaret S. Pearle

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Nevin Altıntop

What is the perception of Turkish migrants in elderly care? The increasing number of elder migrants within the German and Austrian population is causing the challenge of including them in an adequate (culturally sensitive) way into the German/Austrian health care system. Here I introduce the perception of elder Turkish migrants within the predominant paradigm of intercultural opening of health care in Germany as well as within the concept of diversity management of health care in Vienna (Austria). The qualitative investigation follows a field research in different German and Austrian cities within the last four years and an analysis based on the Grounded Theory Methodology. The meaning of intercultural opening on the one hand, and diversity management on the other hand with respect to elderly care will be evaluated. Whereas the intercultural opening directly demands a reduction of barriers to access institutional elderly care the concept of diversity is hardly successful in the inclusion of migrants into elderly care assistance – concerning both, migrants as care-givers and migrants as care-receivers. Despite the similarities between the health care systems of Germany and Austria there are decisive differences in the perception and inclusion of migrants in elderly care that is largely based on an 'individual care' concept of the responsible institutions. Finally, this investigation demonstrates how elderly care in Germany and Austria prepares to encounter the demand of 'individual care' in a diverse society.


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