Effect of electronic prescriptions on the safety of hospitalized pediatric patients

Prescription errors are the most common cause of preventable errors. Electronic prescription (EP) systems may help to reduce errors and improve the quality of care.

To assess the effect of EP on the prevalence of prescription errors and related adverse events (AE) among hospitalized pediatric patients. To assess EP adherence, acceptability, and suitability among users.

Hybrid, descriptive, and quasi-experimental, before-and-after design. Prescriptions made to hospitalized patients were included, estimating the prevalence of prescription errors and related AE in the pre- and post- EP implementation periods at a children's hospital (CH) and a general hospital (GH) used as control. Adherence was assessed based on the proportion of EP among all prescriptions registered in the post-implementation period. The acceptability and suitability of EP implementation was assessed via a user survey.

The prevalence of prescription errors pre- and post-EP implementation at the CH was compared and a statistically significant reduction was observed in both hospitals: CH: 29.1 versus 19.9 prescription errors/100 prescriptions (OR: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.34-2.02; p < 0.01). GH: 24.9 versus 13.6 prescription errors/100 prescriptions (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.5-2.8; p < 0.01). The rate of overall adherence to EP was 83%. The implementation of EP was adequately acceptable and suitable.

The prevalence of prescription errors reduced 30% after the implementation of EP. The overall adherence to EP was adequate.