Statistical Thinking in Health Care
Introduction: The case study The case study presented here is about the problems in the prescription filling at an HMO’s pharmacy. I have reviewed and analyzed the case, identified problems and suggested improvements solution and strategies for preventing future filling errors. Medication errors are a leading cause of mortality in the United States (Kohn, Corrigan, and Donaldson, 2000). Dispensing errors account for ~21% of all medication errors (Santell, Hicks, McMeekin, and Cousins, 2003). In addition to causing serious morbidity and mortality, dispensing errors increase the economic burden on society by adding to health care costs.
The prescription filling process map:
Prescription filling refers to …show more content…
Therefore, the main strategy to reduce dispensing errors is to implement a system oriented approach rather than a punitive approach targeted at an individual. We suggest following strategies for minimizing prescription filling error:
i. Confirm that the prescription is correct and complete: Illegible and ambiguous prescriptions, nonstandard abbreviations, acronyms, decimals, and call-in prescriptions are main medication errors (Hicks, Cousins, and Williams, 2004). Whenever in question, it is important to call the prescriber doctor to clarify any uncertainties or doubts regarding the prescription. It is important to document immediately any clarification obtained from the physician. ii. Ensure correct entry of the prescription: Transcription errors can be reduced by consistently using reliable methods to verify patient identity while entering the prescription into the computer. The Joint Commission requires that at least two patient identifiers check for administering medications. This strategy helps prevent medication errors due to sound-alike, look-alike names. At this point in the process, it is also useful to have information about the patient, such as the age of the patient, allergies, concomitant medications, contraindications, therapeutic duplications, and the