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Prescriptions from general practitioners and in hospital physicians requiring pharmacists' interventions
Author(s) -
Haavik Svein,
Soeviknes Silje,
Erdal Hilde,
Kjonniksen Inge,
Guttormsen Anne Berit,
Granas Anne Gerd
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.023
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1099-1557
pISSN - 1053-8569
DOI - 10.1002/pds.1949
Subject(s) - medicine , medical prescription , psychological intervention , pharmacy , clinical pharmacy , family medicine , emergency medicine , pediatrics , nursing
Purpose To study prescribing errors requiring pharmacists' interventions and to evaluate the potential clinical significance of the errors and omissions detected. Methods The pharmacists at ten community pharmacies and two out‐patient hospital pharmacies recorded prescribing errors and corresponding interventions using a modified version of a previously developed registration scheme. Prescription errors with potential clinical significance were scored according to a modified version of Safety Assessment Code (SAC)‐score Results During the study period 85 475 prescriptions were dispensed. A total of 2385 prescribing errors were detected on 2226 (2.6%) prescriptions. The proportion of prescriptions with errors and omissions was more than four times higher on prescriptions from hospital physicians (7.1%) than on prescriptions from general practitioners (1.5%). The information on the majority (62.2%) of the prescriptions with inaccuracies had to be clarified before the drug could be dispensed. About 1/4 of the errors and omissions were of potential importance for the drug therapy. An expert panel of physicians and pharmacists judged 85% of these errors and omissions to be clinically significant. Individual physicians and pharmacists judged the clinical importance of the detected prescribing errors somewhat differently. Conclusions Pharmacists intervened on 2.6% of prescriptions, and the majority of the potentially clinically significant prescribing errors were judged as significant to the patient's drug therapy and safety. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.