Prescription Errors before and after Introduction of Electronic Medication Alert System in a Pediatric Emergency Department

The objective of this was to compare prescription error rates before and after introduction of computerized provider order entry on a pediatric emergency department. Error assessment was limited to errors with potential to cause life-threatening injury, failure of therapy, or an adverse drug effect. 29.6% of prescriptions generated an alert, with an almost 90% false-positive rate. 7,268 medication orders before and 7,292 after were compared, showing a significant reduction in the errors per 100 prescriptions (10.4 before vs. 7.3 after; absolute risk reduction = 3.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.2 to 4.0)

Sethuraman 2015 (Link) | PubMed 25998704 | Author Search