TY - JOUR
T1 - Electronic prescribing problems reported tothePharmacy and Provider ePrescribing Experience Reporting (PEER) portal
AU - Hincapie, Ana L.
AU - Warholak, Terri
AU - Altyar, Ahmed
AU - Snead, Rebecca
AU - Modisett, Tara
N1 - Funding Information:
Reports were received in tabular form. Investigators AH and AA analyzed the data. Univariate summary statistics were calculated for the reports and analyzed using STATA 11.0. This study received IRB approval from the Office for the Responsible Conduct of Research at the University of Arizona.
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - Background: Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) may prevent medication errors caused by prescription illegibility; however, information technologies also may introduce different kinds of medication errors. Objective: To identify and quantify e-prescribing problems reported through an electronic prescribing incident reporting tool in the United States. Methods: Voluntary and anonymous reports to a web-based, e-prescribing incident reporting tool were collected during 18 months using convenience sampling. Questions in the reporting tool were designed to elicit information on pharmacists' experiences with e-prescribing. Data were analyzed to characterize the different types of e-prescribing concerns. Results: A total of 484 reports were collected through the incident reporting tool. Out of 484 reports, 75% corresponded to electronic prescriptions received directly into pharmacies' computers and 23% were computer-generated prescriptions faxed to pharmacies. Most of reports corresponded to comments, complaints or identified unsafe conditions regarding electronic prescriptions (49%), followed by incidents that did not reach the patient (44%) and those that reached patients (6%). The majority of problems reported involved directions (24%) and quantity selection (12%). Conclusion: The use of an incident reporting tool revealed a variety of issues regarding e-prescribing. The majority of the issues reported in this study were related to directions and quantity selection. The findings in this study indicate that software system changes and appropriate prescriber training are required to decrease or eliminate some of these issues.
AB - Background: Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) may prevent medication errors caused by prescription illegibility; however, information technologies also may introduce different kinds of medication errors. Objective: To identify and quantify e-prescribing problems reported through an electronic prescribing incident reporting tool in the United States. Methods: Voluntary and anonymous reports to a web-based, e-prescribing incident reporting tool were collected during 18 months using convenience sampling. Questions in the reporting tool were designed to elicit information on pharmacists' experiences with e-prescribing. Data were analyzed to characterize the different types of e-prescribing concerns. Results: A total of 484 reports were collected through the incident reporting tool. Out of 484 reports, 75% corresponded to electronic prescriptions received directly into pharmacies' computers and 23% were computer-generated prescriptions faxed to pharmacies. Most of reports corresponded to comments, complaints or identified unsafe conditions regarding electronic prescriptions (49%), followed by incidents that did not reach the patient (44%) and those that reached patients (6%). The majority of problems reported involved directions (24%) and quantity selection (12%). Conclusion: The use of an incident reporting tool revealed a variety of issues regarding e-prescribing. The majority of the issues reported in this study were related to directions and quantity selection. The findings in this study indicate that software system changes and appropriate prescriber training are required to decrease or eliminate some of these issues.
KW - Community pharmacies
KW - Electronic prescribing
KW - Error reporting system
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U2 - 10.1016/j.sapharm.2013.08.007
DO - 10.1016/j.sapharm.2013.08.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 24139956
AN - SCOPUS:84904100953
SN - 1551-7411
VL - 10
SP - 647
EP - 655
JO - Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy
JF - Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy
IS - 4
ER -