Objectives: Barcode-assisted medication administration (BCMA) is technology with demonstrated benefit in reducing medication administration errors in hospitalized patients; however, it is not routinely used in emergency departments (EDs). EDs may benefit from BCMA, because ED medication administration is complex and error-prone.Methods: A na€ ıve observational study was conducted at an academic medical center implementing BCMA in the ED. The rate of medication administration errors was measured before and after implementing an integrated electronic medical record (EMR) with BCMA capacity. Errors were classified as wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong route of administration, or a medication administration with no physician order. The error type, severity of error, and medications associated with errors were also quantified.Results: A total of 1,978 medication administrations were observed (996 pre-BCMA and 982 post-BCMA). The baseline medication administration error rate was 6.3%, with wrong dose errors representing 66.7% of observed errors. BCMA was associated with a reduction in the medication administration error rate to 1.2%, a relative rate reduction of 80.7% (p < 0.0001). Wrong dose errors decreased by 90.4% (p < 0.0001), and medication administrations with no physician order decreased by 72.4% (p = 0.057). Most errors discovered were of minor severity. Antihistamine medications were associated with the highest error rate.Conclusions: Implementing BCMA in the ED was associated with significant reductions in the medication administration error rate and specifically wrong dose errors. The results of this study suggest a benefit of BCMA on reducing medication administration errors in the ED.ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2013; 20:801-806 © 2013 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine M edication errors are a frequent and costly problem for hospitalized patients, and medication administration errors account for onethird of all medication errors. 1,2 Since the publication of the Institute of Medicine report To Err Is Human, health systems have adopted technology and information systems to improve the medication use process and reduce errors. 3 Barcode-assisted medication administration (BCMA) systems reduce medication administration errors by 40% to 70% in hospitalized patients. [4][5][6][7][8] While progress has been made to use technology to reduce medication errors for hospitalized patients, studies evaluating technology and medication safety in the emergency department (ED) are limited. Specifically there is no literature describing the effect of BCMA on medication administration errors in the ED. A survey of the 2010 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a nationally representative sample of ED visits, found that 28.1% of EDs did not have any information system, while only 38.9% had completely electronic medical records (EMRs).

An international panel of pharmacy professionals, researchers, and technology leaders with experience in i.v. robotics developed a set of 35 recommendations toward a better understanding of the role of automated i.v. compounding in hospital and health-system pharmacies worldwide.

lenalidomide is an effective agent for the treatment of MDS with a 5q deletion and relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

The Director's Forum series is designed to guide pharmacy leaders in establishing patient-centered services in hospitals and health systems. Health care information systems are becoming more integrated and interoperable and are able to connect with a variety of software and systems. A key position that helps to connect the pharmacy to the organization's information system needs is the Informatics Pharmacist (IP). This position's distinct expertise in systems capabilities and pharmacy operations can support innovations in practice and strong communication throughout the organization. The director of pharmacy can leverage the talents of the IP to enhance the patient-centered services of the pharmacy. Given that most pharmacy departments are small and may not have resources to hire a full-time IP, this article provides the pharmacy director with information about the IP position, which can be used to justify additional resources to focus on pharmacy informatics.