Determination of Medication Error in Providing Pharmaceutical Services in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bangkok
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Abstract
Objective: To determine the incidence of medication errors (MEs) and its impact on workload and cost incurred in pharmaceutical services at a tertiary care hospital in Bangkok. Methods: This study was a prospective descriptive study, collecting prescribing errors (PEs) and pre-dispensing errors (PDEs) in outpatient and inpatient services between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020. Subsequently, the number of identified MEs and amount of time spent on fixing the MEs were used to calculate workload and costs incurred when pharmacists and pharmacy assistants corrected MEs. Results: The rate of PEs and PDEs in outpatients was 36.73 per 1,000 prescriptions, while those in inpatients were 51.95 per 1,000 patient days and 38.09 per 1,000 patient days, respectively. Cost and workload for fixing PEs and PDEs for outpatients was 59.86 baht per time (0.000144 FTE) and 9.05 baht per time (0.000015 FTE), respectively. Those for inpatients were 15.41 baht per time (0.000038 FTE) and 18.53 baht per time (0.000031 FTE), respectively. Costs incurred from MEs with level E severity or higher in which patients were harmed from MEs was increased by an average of 61,290.50 baht per patient. Conclusion: MEs increase cost and workload in order to correct them. Therefore, policies to reduce MEs should be promoted to curb PEs, reduce errors in drug entry and systematic drug dispensing.
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ผลการวิจัยและความคิดเห็นที่ปรากฏในบทความถือเป็นความคิดเห็นและอยู่ในความรับผิดชอบของผู้นิพนธ์ มิใช่ความเห็นหรือความรับผิดชอบของกองบรรณาธิการ หรือคณะเภสัชศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยสงขลานครินทร์ ทั้งนี้ไม่รวมความผิดพลาดอันเกิดจากการพิมพ์ บทความที่ได้รับการเผยแพร่โดยวารสารเภสัชกรรมไทยถือเป็นสิทธิ์ของวารสารฯ
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