Evaluation of a hybrid paper?electronic medication management system at a residential aged care facility.

Conclusion Medication discrepancies and delays were common. Improved systems for managing medication orders and charts are needed.What is known about the topic? Hybrid paper-electronic medication management systems, in which prescribers' orders are transcribed into an electronic system by pharmacy technicians and pharmacists to create medication administration charts, are increasingly replacing paper-based medication management systems in Australian residential aged care facilities. The accuracy and safety of these systems has not been studied.What does this paper add? The present study identified discrepancies between general practitioners' orders and pharmacy-prepared electronic medication administration charts, back-up paper medication charts and dose-administration aids, as well as delays between ordering, charting and administering medicines. Discrepancies and delays sometimes led to medication administration errors.What are the implications for practitioners? Facilities that use hybrid systems need to implement robust systems for communicating medication changes to their pharmacy and reconciling prescribers' orders against pharmacy-generated medication charts and dose-administration aids. Fully integrated, paperless medication management systems, in which prescribers' electronic medication orders directly populate an electronic medication administration chart and are automatically communicated to the facility's pharmacy, could improve patient safety.
PMID: 26386...

Source: Australian Health Review - September 21, 2015 Category: Hospital Management Authors: Elliott RA, Lee CY, Hussainy SY Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research