Study: 40+ hospital drug errors a day - Incorrect prescriptions, messy handwriting among problems

http://www.msnbc.com/news/805357.asp?0si=&cp1=1

Study: 40+ hospital drug errors a day

Incorrect prescriptions, messy handwriting among problems

ASSOCIATED PRESS


CHICAGO, Sept. 8 — More than 40 potentially harmful drug errors daily were found on average in hospitals in a new study, yet another report on a worrisome problem regulators are working to remedy. The most common errors were giving patients medication at the wrong time or not at all, researchers found in a study of 36 hospitals and nursing homes in Colorado and Georgia.

• Shop at B&N.com

• Auctions at uBid

• Yellow Pages

• Personals Channel

• Professional Tips

• Shopping

Another report said medical errors contribute to more than 1 million injuries and up to 98,000 deaths annually.

ERRORS OCCURRED in nearly one of five doses in a typical, 300-bed hospital, which translates to about two errors per patient daily. Seven percent of the errors were considered potentially harmful.
The study, which did not evaluate death or injury rates, is published in Sept. 9th’s Archives of Internal Medicine. It is based on data collected in 1999.
The rates are similar to those in other reports on drug errors, but the new study highlights a specific point in the process of getting a drug to a patient: “administering errors” made by nurses or other hospital staffers after a doctor has properly prescribed a drug.

‘A MAJOR PROBLEM’
Other studies focused on earlier steps, such as doctors prescribing the wrong drug, or pharmacists incorrectly reading a doctor’s messy handwriting.

“It’s a major problem, not a minor problem, and it doesn’t lend itself to an easy solution,” said researcher Kenneth Barker, an Auburn University professor of pharmacy care systems.
Barker and colleagues evaluated hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, nonaccredited hospitals and nursing facilities. Error rates were similar, regardless of whether an institution was accredited.
The researchers said their findings support implications in a highly publicized 1999 Institute of Medicine report suggesting that the nation’s hospitals have “major systems problems.” The IOM report said medical errors contribute to more than 1 million injuries and up to 98,000 deaths annually.

81 DAYS OF OBSERVATION
Health-care workers trained for the new study were sent on-site and recorded errors during 81 days of observation. Potentially harmful errors included overdoses and instances when nurses failed to give patients prescribed medication.

The study follows the Joint Commission’s recent announcement of six safety standards it will require starting in January to reduce medical errors. The hospital regulatory agency accredits most of the nation’s 6,000 hospitals.
The new standards include demanding better methods of preventing drug errors, and hospitals that don’t measure up could risk losing accreditation and federal money.
JCAHO says hospitals should use at least two “identifiers” — other than a patient’s hospital room number — to ensure that the right drug gets to the right patient.

ID CHECKS SUGGESTED
For example, nurses should check patients’ wrist bands and ask them verbally, when possible, to identify themselves, before administering a drug, said Dr. Paul Schyve, JCAHO’s senior vice president. Using a room number has been done, but is risky because a patient could be transferred without a nurse’s knowledge, Schyve said.
Schyve said the study helps confirm “that there is a problem here and helps guide people to understand where some of those errors lie.”
He discounted the study’s finding that error rates were similar at accredited hospitals because only 12 such facilities were included. Also, Schyve said, accredited hospitals tend to be larger and handle the sickest patients, thus may be more prone to errors.
Unaccredited hospitals include small, rural facilities that can’t afford accrediting regulations, such as having quick access to an anesthesiologist for obstetric patients in case an emergency Caesarean section is needed, Schyve said.

© 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Bush vows 'to win the war'

Security scares in air, on land and sea

Amid threats, world remembers 9/11

NBC: Fear, angst in Baghdad

Bush, strategists mull Iraq deadline

MSNBC Cover Page

Study: Clones have abnormal genes

AIDS virus lurks in fat cells

Early prostate cancer surgery backed

FBI searches Hatfill's home again

Guinea pigs get genetic pacemakers

MSNBC Cover Page

	MSNBC READERS' TOP 10

	Would you recommend this story to other readers? not at all 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 highly

MSNBC is optimized for
• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Windows Media Player

• MSNBC Terms,
	Conditions and Privacy © 2002

Vaccination News Home Page

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.

Primary Links

User login

Study: 40+ hospital drug errors a day - Incorrect prescriptions, messy handwriting among problems