Pilot of a National Inpatient Medication Chart in Australia: improving prescribing safety and enabling prescribing training

Abstract

National implementation of a standard medication chart is possible. Similar reduction in the rate of prescribing errors can be achieved in multiple sites across one country. The consequent benefits for patient care and training of staff could be significant.

Simple prescribing errors and allergy documentation in medical hospital admissions in Australia and New Zealand

“…The NIMC was introduced in Australia in 2006; 18 this has allowed repetitive audit on a national level to track the frequency of prescribing errors, which has demonstrated a reduced rate of such errors. 19 However, local collection of data and feedback may encourage ownership of this problem by prescribers and could be more effective at inducing behavioural change. 9,20 Our data suggest that simple prescribing errors were common at all hospital sites but the types of errors differed across the four sites.…”

From the Editor

“…Over a decade, workers in Brisbane introduced a revised medication chart, audited its before-and-after use in five hospital sites in Queensland (demonstrating a significant fall in prescribing errors) and last year published their analysis of the implementation of their National Inpatient Medication Chart in 22 hospitals nationwide; the prescribing error rate fell by a third. 10,11 While acknowledging a Hawthorn effect -whereby the process of education and implementation may have played a role in reducing error rates in this before-and-after study -the authors comment that the standard format facilitates the education of prescribers, and…”

The competent prescriber: 12 core competencies for safe prescribing

“…1). 12 This emphasises that prescribing is a staged process rather than a single event and is in line with UK prescribing competencies for new medical graduates. 8 These stages are:…”