Medication errors occurring with the use of bar-code administration technology

Medication errors occurring with the use of bar-code administration technology

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
Pennsylvania patient safety advisory
Contributor(s):
Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority.
ECRI (Organization)
Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
Publication:
[Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, c2008
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Electronic Data Processing
Medication Errors -- prevention & control
Medication Systems -- organization & administration
Patient Identification Systems
Pennsylvania
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
Bar-code medication administration (BCMA) systems can improve medication safety by verifying that the right drug is being administered to the right patient. Studies have shown that BCMA technology can reduce medication errors by 65% to 86%. But BCMA technology alone does not ensure a safe medication-use system. A number of reports submitted through PA-PSRS describe medication errors that occurred in organizations that used a bar-code system for administration. Some of these errors result from failures to use this technology appropriately, employing workarounds or overriding alerts, disruptions in the medication administration process, and dispensing errors that arise in the pharmacy. Strategies to address problems with this technology include reviewing BCMA logs to evaluate overrides and identify system weaknesses and monitoring and measuring compliance with the technology to identify and remove any barriers to its appropriate use.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
NLM Unique ID:
101568404 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101568404