Monday, May 24, 2010
Computers help reduce medication errors, but so can patients
Doctors’ handwriting has been the butt of jokes since the invention of the prescription pad, but it is no laughing matter. Poor handwriting is the culprit in a significant number of medication and other healthcare related errors. Thankfully, protecting yourself from this type of mistake is easier then deciphering hieroglyphics.
Computers dominate most professional fields today and healthcare is no different.
Every hospital, doctor’s office, and pharmacy uses computers in nearly all aspects of patient care. Yet even today, the handwritten medical chart and prescription pad is the most common way a physician communicates orders to nurses, pharmacists and even fellow doctors.
And it is not that doctors handwriting is really any worse then the average Joe, it’s just that what they are writing about is much more important and carries a higher risk of harm when misinterpreted. The Institute of Medicine’s report on medication errors stated that 7,000 patient deaths occur each year because of medication errors, and poor handwriting is a leading cause of those errors.
Taking the pen away is one solution that many experts advocate. E-prescribing, using a computer device to write prescriptions, is growing every day and is currently available to many physicians right in their office and links directly with local pharmacies. Using their computer or a hand-held device, doctors can electronically write a prescription and instantly send it to the pharmacy of your choice without ever needing to put pen to paper.
Besides just eliminating poor penmanship from the prescription writing process, E-prescribing software can also warn the physician of potential drug interactions and dosage errors as well. In hospitals E-prescribing is known as Computerized-Physician Order Entry (CPOE), and it is changing the way medications are prescribed there as well. Backus Hospital has a successful pilot program running now and plans to launch it throughout the institution.
Although E-prescribing is gaining popularity and cures the problem of poor handwriting, it also creates a few new problems as well; the most common one being termed “selection error.” The prescriber may accidently push a wrong button, or choose a medication name that looks just like the one they intended. How can you protect yourself from any of these errors? Do you need your own E-prescribing device? The answer is no, a simple pad and pen will do.
If your doctor is writing you a prescription, either on paper or electronically, make sure they tell you exactly what the medication is, what it is for, how you should take it, and how many times a day to take it.
Write this information down yourself (hopefully you can read your own handwriting, something I have trouble with that). Then when you are at the pharmacy picking up your prescription and going over the directions with the pharmacist, you can refer to what you have written and make sure what the doctor told you the prescription was going to be for, is exactly what the pharmacist is dispensing. If something is different, have the pharmacist call your physician to clear up any discrepancies.
Michael Smith is a pharmacist and Clinical Coordinator in the Department of Pharmacy Services at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich. This column should not replace advice or instruction from your personal physician. E-mail Mr. Smith and all of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org. To comment on this or other Healthy Living columns, click below or go to the Healthy Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs.
Computers dominate most professional fields today and healthcare is no different.
Every hospital, doctor’s office, and pharmacy uses computers in nearly all aspects of patient care. Yet even today, the handwritten medical chart and prescription pad is the most common way a physician communicates orders to nurses, pharmacists and even fellow doctors.
And it is not that doctors handwriting is really any worse then the average Joe, it’s just that what they are writing about is much more important and carries a higher risk of harm when misinterpreted. The Institute of Medicine’s report on medication errors stated that 7,000 patient deaths occur each year because of medication errors, and poor handwriting is a leading cause of those errors.
Taking the pen away is one solution that many experts advocate. E-prescribing, using a computer device to write prescriptions, is growing every day and is currently available to many physicians right in their office and links directly with local pharmacies. Using their computer or a hand-held device, doctors can electronically write a prescription and instantly send it to the pharmacy of your choice without ever needing to put pen to paper.
Besides just eliminating poor penmanship from the prescription writing process, E-prescribing software can also warn the physician of potential drug interactions and dosage errors as well. In hospitals E-prescribing is known as Computerized-Physician Order Entry (CPOE), and it is changing the way medications are prescribed there as well. Backus Hospital has a successful pilot program running now and plans to launch it throughout the institution.
Although E-prescribing is gaining popularity and cures the problem of poor handwriting, it also creates a few new problems as well; the most common one being termed “selection error.” The prescriber may accidently push a wrong button, or choose a medication name that looks just like the one they intended. How can you protect yourself from any of these errors? Do you need your own E-prescribing device? The answer is no, a simple pad and pen will do.
If your doctor is writing you a prescription, either on paper or electronically, make sure they tell you exactly what the medication is, what it is for, how you should take it, and how many times a day to take it.
Write this information down yourself (hopefully you can read your own handwriting, something I have trouble with that). Then when you are at the pharmacy picking up your prescription and going over the directions with the pharmacist, you can refer to what you have written and make sure what the doctor told you the prescription was going to be for, is exactly what the pharmacist is dispensing. If something is different, have the pharmacist call your physician to clear up any discrepancies.
Michael Smith is a pharmacist and Clinical Coordinator in the Department of Pharmacy Services at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich. This column should not replace advice or instruction from your personal physician. E-mail Mr. Smith and all of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org. To comment on this or other Healthy Living columns, click below or go to the Healthy Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs.
# posted by ----------------- @ 6:24 PM 
