Intervention study for the reduction of medication errors in elderly trauma patients

Area of Science:

• Geriatric Medicine
• Patient Safety
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Medication errors (MEs) pose a significant risk during care transitions, especially for vulnerable elderly trauma patients.
• Interventions are needed to minimize MEs and improve patient outcomes in this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a multidisciplinary working group's interventions on reducing MEs in elderly trauma patients during care transitions.
• To classify MEs and identify their primary locations within the healthcare process.

Main Methods:

• A 43-month pre-post prospective intervention study was conducted in a university hospital's Trauma Service.
• A pharmacist systematically analyzed pharmacotherapeutic processes, identifying and classifying MEs at various stages (reconciliation, prescription, dispensing, administration, validation).
• Interventions included pharmacist integration into the Acute Care Team, training, and protocol development, followed by post-implementation data collection.

Main Results:

• A statistically significant reduction in MEs was observed, decreasing from 31.3% in the pre-implementation phase to 16.2% in the post-implementation phase.
• Significant reductions were noted in reconciliation (31.6% to 14.8%), prescription (7.7% to 1.9%), and dispensing errors (1% to 0.3%).
• The majority of MEs occurred within the Trauma Service.

Conclusions:

• The implementation of specific measures by a Multidisciplinary Safety Group effectively reduced MEs in the care transition of elderly trauma patients.
• Pharmacist involvement and targeted interventions, particularly for reconciliation errors, were key to improving patient safety in the Trauma Service.