January 31, 2017: Errors Associated with Hospital Discharge Prescriptions: A Multi-Incident Analysis
During a hospital stay, a patient's medication regimen may undergo multiple changes. If these changes are not captured accurately on the patient's discharge prescription, these discrepancies can lead to medication errors. Such errors can result in patient harm, readmission to hospital, and/or an increased workload for care providers, as well as having the potential to undermine patients' confidence in the healthcare system. A multi-incident analysis of medication incidents involving discharge prescriptions was conducted to better understand the challenges around the creation and processing of hospital discharge prescriptions and to share opportunities for system-based improvements. Read more ...
