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Collaborative doctor–pharmacist prescribing in the emergency department and admissions unit: a study of accuracy and safety
Author(s) -
Taylor Sally,
Hale Andrew,
Lewis Rebecca,
Rowland Jeffrey
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of pharmacy practice and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 2055-2335
pISSN - 1445-937X
DOI - 10.1002/jppr.1464
Subject(s) - pharmacist , medicine , audit , officer , patient safety , medical emergency , family medicine , harm , emergency department , pharmacy , nursing , health care , psychology , management , political science , law , economics , economic growth , social psychology
Prescribing by pharmacists in a collaborative manner has been occurring in the UK for several years. There are minimal studies involving pharmacist prescribing in Australia. In the present audit, 34 medication charts (17 each from the pharmacist prescriber and medical officer) were reviewed for safety and accuracy. Medication charts written by a pharmacist were more accurate than those written by a medical officer when compared to the medication history. Discrepancies and omissions had more potential for patient harm in the charts written by the medical officer. In all, 146 orders prescribed by pharmacists and 145 orders prescribed by medical officers were reviewed for safety. Of these, 90% of orders written by the pharmacist were error free, compared with 26% written by medical officers. The incorporation of pharmacist prescribers into the admissions process has the potential to improve patient safety and decrease medication errors.