Using a bar code system to check patients' medications and dosages can significantly reduce drug transcription and administration errors, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, Boston Globe's "White Coat Notes" reports (Cooney, "White Coat Notes," Boston Globe, 5/5).
For the study, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital compared the administration of medications before and after bar codes were added to the hospital's electronic health record system (Reinberg, HealthDay/Businessweek, 5/5).
The researchers found that after bar code technology was added to EHRs, patients were:
- 57% less likely to receive the wrong drug;
- 42% less likely to receive the wrong dose;
- 61% less likely to receive a drug when none had been prescribed; and
- 27% less likely to receive a drug at the wrong time.
In addition, the study found that transcription errors fell from a rate of 6% to zero (Emery, Reuters, 5/5). The rate of potential adverse drug events fell from 3.1% to 1.6% ("White Coat Notes," Boston Globe, 5/5).
Lead researcher Eric Poon, the hospital's director of clinical informatics, estimates that the system prevents 90,000 serious errors each year.
The researchers are planning to do a cost-benefit analysis of the system, which costs about $10 million (HealthDay/BusinessWeek, 5/5).