Patient Safety Update:Patient Safety Primer Offers Strategies to Prevent Medication Errors

Patient Safety Update:Patient Safety Primer Offers Strategies to Prevent Medication Errors

Patient Safety Update:Patient Safety Primer Offers Strategies to Prevent Medication Errors

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) sent this bulletin at 06/11/2013 09:36 AM EDT A growing evidence base supports specific strategies to prevent adverse drug events (ADEs), according to a patient safety primer posted online on AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network (PSNet). The primer  outlines strategies providers can use at each stage of the medication use pathway – prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administration – to prevent ADEs. These strategies range from computerized provider order entry and clinical decision support to minimizing nurse disruption and providing better patient education and medication labeling. The primer also identifies known risk factors for ADEs, including health literacy, patient characteristics, high alert medications and transitions in care.
 
To access the full patient safety primer, titled Medication Errors, go to: http://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer.aspx?primerID=23