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Decision support to avoid medication errors - how far have we come in Denmark and what are the present challenges
Annemarie Hellebek1, Christiana Marinakis
1The Copenhagen Unit for Patient Safety, Danish Society for Patient Safety and Informatum A/S. annemarie.hellebek@hvh.regionh.dk
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
|September 12, 2009
Summary
Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) with decision support can reduce medication errors. This study identified 14 drug classes involved in serious errors, aiding healthcare professionals in preventing harm.
Area of Science:
- Health Informatics
- Pharmacovigilance
- Clinical Decision Support
Background:
- Medication errors reported to Danish health authorities exceed 5000 annually.
- Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems with decision support tools are known to reduce medication errors.
- Previous work focused on preventing harmful medication errors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze medication errors leading to harm or death in Denmark.
- To develop a consensus method for identifying drugs requiring warnings.
- To systematize different types of drug warnings.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from The Danish National Board of Health reports on hospital errors.
- Review of international literature on medication errors.
- Development and validation of a methodical consensus for drug warning classification.
Main Results:
- Identified 14 drug classes or substances involved in serious medication errors.
- A list of 136 medicines with warnings is now available in the Infomatum A/S drug database.
- Other decision support tools for dosage and pregnancy information are in development.
Conclusions:
- A validated list of 14 drug classes associated with serious medication errors has been established.
- Systematized drug warnings enhance patient safety by informing healthcare professionals.
- Challenges remain in drug coding for effective decision support implementation.
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