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Detection and Management of Common Medication Errors in Internal Medicine Wards: Impact on Medication Costs and

Kamal Boostani1, Hamid Noshad2, Farahnoosh Farnood2

  • 1Drug Applied Research Center, Sina Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

Advanced Pharmaceutical Bulletin
|April 24, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Medication errors (MEs) are frequent in hospitals, with 89% of patients experiencing them. Clinical pharmacists significantly reduced medication costs by detecting and preventing these errors.

Area of Science:

  • Pharmacology
  • Patient Safety
  • Health Economics

Background:

  • Medication errors (MEs) contribute significantly to patient morbidity and mortality.
  • Complex pharmacotherapy in hospitalized patients requires ongoing surveillance and pharmaceutical care.
  • MEs remain underappreciated despite their impact.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the frequency, types, clinical significance, and costs of MEs in internal medicine wards.
  • To assess the impact of clinical pharmacist interventions on medication costs.

Main Methods:

  • An 8-month prospective, cross-sectional study involving daily ward rounds by a clinical pharmacist.
  • Prospective detection, recording, and intervention for all MEs (prescription, transcription, administration).
  • Comparison of medication costs before and after pharmacist interventions.

Main Results:

  • 89% of patients experienced at least one ME; an average of 2.6 errors per patient occurred.
  • Over 70% of MEs originated at the prescription stage, primarily involving drug selection and untreated indications.
  • MEs were most common with cardiovascular agents, antibiotics, and vitamins/minerals/electrolytes.
  • Clinical pharmacist interventions led to a 33.9% reduction in medication costs.

Conclusions:

  • Clinical pharmacy services are crucial for detecting, preventing, and reducing the costs associated with medication errors in internal medicine.
  • Proactive pharmaceutical care can significantly mitigate the financial burden of MEs.
Keywords:
Clinical pharmacistInternal medicineMedication errorsPharmaceutical care

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