Medication safety in the ambulatory chemotherapy setting

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Pharmacology
• Patient Safety

Background:

• The safety of outpatient chemotherapy administration is not well-established.
• Understanding medication error and adverse drug event (ADE) rates is crucial for improving patient care in ambulatory settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the rates of medication errors and potential ADEs in outpatient chemotherapy settings.
• To compare error rates between adult and pediatric chemotherapy infusion units.

Main Methods:

• A prospective cohort study was conducted across adult and pediatric outpatient chemotherapy infusion units.
• Medication orders and patient charts were reviewed for medication and chemotherapy administration.
• Data collection occurred between March and December 2000, comparing computerized order entry with handwritten orders.

Main Results:

• A total of 10,112 medication orders from 1606 patients were analyzed.
• The overall medication error rate was 3%, with 2% of orders having the potential for harm (potential ADEs).
• Adult patients had a higher proportion of errors with potential for harm (82%) compared to pediatric patients (60%).

Conclusions:

• The ambulatory medication error rate was 3%, with 2% of orders posing a risk of harm.
• Despite relatively low rates, the potential for serious patient harm exists.
• The study identified strategies for preventing medication errors and ADEs in outpatient chemotherapy.