Objective:To estimate the prevalence of prescribing errors before and after implementing electronic discharge prescription system in the wards of General Surgery in a tertiary care hospital in India. Methodology: Patients discharged from General Surgery wards with a prescription containing atleast one drug were selected. Discharge prescriptions were collected before and after implementing the electronic prescribing system. Patients' demographic details like age, gender, diagnosis and number days of hospital stay were recorded in the specially designed case record form. Discharge orders were scanned to evaluate the prescribing errors in these orders. Results: A total of 1045 handwritten and 1152 electronic discharge summaries were collected, of which 76.7% and 76.2% were of <60 years aged patients, 64.3% and 63.5% of male gender respectively in both the groups. Average number of drugs prescribed per prescription was 3.5 and 4.1 before and after intervention; error rate was 33% and 8.4% of drugs prescribed respectively, 46.3% of prescriptions were of illegible handwriting. The intervention of an electronic prescribing system has reduced 75% of prescribing errors. Handwritten prescriptions had 5.5 higher odds of having prescribing errors (OR 5.5, 95% CI 4.6-6.1). Conclusion: The electronic prescribing system has a high impact in reducing prescribing errors in discharge prescriptions. Handwritten prescriptions had 5.5-times odds of higher risk for prescribing errors. Increase in age, number of drugs prescribed and length of hospital stay were major predictors of prescribing errors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.