Medication Error- Update

 Welcome back to my blog! Glad you are here. This week we will include information regarding safe patient care strategies as well as information about self-monitoring strategies. 


Strategies regarding safe patient care: 

  • Many strategies will focus on the deliverance of safe care. Because medication errors happen and are the outcome is frowned upon, many hospitals and the FDA have looked into ways to help alleviate this from occurring. Some strategies may include: 
    • Rather than focusing on changing the behavior of every healthcare worker, hospitals are now trying to understand how the system failed. This approach is designed to introduce barriers and safeguards at every level so that a mistake can be caught before the drug is given to the patient (Tariq et al., 2021). 
    • Barriers to successful communication include the inability to reach prescribers, unclear verbal and written orders and time constraints make it challenging to check drug interactions (Tariq et al., 2021). 
    • Double-check the dosing and frequency of all high-alert medications (Tariq et al., 2021). 
    • If unsure about the drug or the dose, speak to the pharmacist
    • If unable to read the writing of an order or script, call provider to confirm drug/dosage (Tariq et al., 2021).
    • COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION 
    • An environment of teamwork = optimal mediation delivery.
      • If error occurs, open discussion amongst the team should be encouraged
    • Better patient education on their medications 
    • Prior Authorization of prescriptions 
    • Labels including bar codes to scan prior to administering (Medication Errors) 
    • Electronic prescription records (Medication Errors) 
    • Electronic Drug utilization reviews (Medication Errors) 

What can patients use to assist in preventing medication errors?
* Smartphones can play an important role in patient education, disease management, and remote monitoring of patients.*
  1. Many phones offer apps to assist in keeping track of your health records and medications 
    • MyChart 
    • Iphone- Health app 
    • GenieMD- both iphone and android 
    • Search your phones app store to find health related apps. This will help you document important medical information such as medications, allergies, medical history, etc. 
    • speaking to your doctor about what they recommend to help track your medical records and up-to-date information .

  2. To improve the quality of health care delivery, we should encourage patients to adopt mobile health apps during their hospital visits, and hospitals should take advantage of mobile health apps to improve patient experience during hospital stays (Lu et al., 2018).

  3. Self- monitoring ideas would be to keep an updated medicaion list with you at all times in your wallet. Utilize this link for ideas and printable medication lists 10 Best Printable Medication List Card - printablee.com

  4. See example below: 

 



Resources: 

Lu C, Hu Y, Xie J, et al. The Use of Mobile Health Applications to Improve Patient Experience: Cross-Sectional Study in Chinese Public Hospitals. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2018;6(5):e126. Published 2018 May 23. doi:10.2196/mhealth.9145

Medication errors. AMCP.org. ().Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://www.amcp.org/about/managed-care-pharmacy/medication-errors 

Tariq, R.A., Vashisht, R., Sinha, A., & Scherbak, Y. (n.d.). Medication Dispensing Errors and Prevention. StatPearls. Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519065/

10 Best Printable Medication List Card - printablee.com

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