Medication safety strategies in hospitals--a systematic review

Medication safety is an essential component of patient safety in health care delivery. Providing strategies to effectively prevent medication errors and adverse drug events in hospitals has gained international recognition.

The aim of this paper was to review systematically the research literature on the various interventions for providing medication safety in hospitals.

Eight healthcare databases were searched for full research articles written in English. Reference lists of included studies were also searched. Research studies involving delivery of interventions in hospitals with the aim of preventing or reducing medication errors and adverse drug events were examined.

Forty-two studies were selected. Most of the studies were before and after designs without comparative control groups. Forty studies identified interventions contributing to the prevention and reduction of medication errors. Six broad types of interventions were identified: computerized physician order entry with or without clinical decision support systems, automation, computer assisted, barcode technology, pharmacist role, training and system designs.

Though studies have provided evidence for individual interventions, there are concerns about the extent of their effectiveness. This has implications for policy makers and clinicians to adopt multifaceted approach in providing medication safety in their hospitals.