Introduction
Medication-related errors are a type of error in treatment that poses a significant risk to patients and healthcare systems. According to Tariq et al. (2024), while there are many different types of errors in treatment, medication error is ranked as one of the most frequent and avoidable. Medication error refers to failures in treatment processes through medication whether it is prescribing, dispensing or administration (Aronson, 2009). This article will explore medication errors as a type of error in treatment, particularly exploring the causes, consequences and prevention of medication errors.
Causes of Medication Errors
Medication errors can occur due to various reasons ranging from errors by patients, healthcare professionals or manufacturers. These errors can occur in one or more of the following stages: ordering and prescribing, documenting, transcribing, dispensing, administering and monitoring (Tariq et al., 2024).
As per Dr. Pooya Beigi, a dermatologist and founder of Misdiagnosis Association and Research Institute (MARI), medication errors can occur commonly in his field (Blissy, 2024). An example of causes of medication error can be if there are errors in prescription by healthcare professionals. For instance, if there is a mistake in writing or paperwork in the prescription, such as an incorrect dose or incorrect medicine, and the prescription is sent to the pharmacy, errors in preparing the medicine could occur as the prescription was not accurately written (Blissy, 2024). Additionally, errors can still occur as doctors must use their judgement when treating patients. For instance, if patients are misdiagnosed, they are likely to receive errors in treatment and an incorrect medication that may not fully help their illness. It is the health care providers responsibility to ensure the medicine they are giving their patient is best suited as a treatment for the illness or disease (Likic & Maxwell, 2009).
Medication errors can also occur due to patient error. All steps could be done correctly by healthcare providers, but if a patient takes the medicine incorrectly or misses their medicine it can pose serious risk to their health (Blissy, 2024). For example, if an antibiotic is prescribed every 8 hours on an empty stomach but patients take it once a day with a meal, it may cause complications to their health (Blissy, 2024). Ineffective communication between healthcare professionals and patients is also an important cause of medication errors. Language barriers or inability to understand medical language are examples of how communication between patients and healthcare workers can cause potential medical errors (Shitu et al., 2018).
Lastly, while there are many policies in place to prevent this such as quality control and recalling medication if needed, medication errors can occur if the manufactured product was formulated incorrectly. Wrong drugs, formulas or labels are potential ways how medication can be formulated incorrectly (Aronson, 2009).
Consequences of Medication Errors
The consequences of medication error range from no harm to serious harm to the patient. Thus, medication errors are important to be detected as while some people may not have a reaction at all, others can be greatly affected by a medication error. With medication errors, patients are at direct risk of serious harm or illness. Whether it is incorrect medicine, incorrect doses or the introduction of allergens through medicine, all of these can cause patients to be at risk of additional illnesses or harm to their body (Britten, 2009). It is important to note that even if a patient does not negatively react to a medication error, it is possible for these medication errors to still hinder one’s treatment plan. For example, it was mentioned earlier that a medication error can occur if patients themselves take medicine differently than prescribed. In the case of antibiotics, if a pill is taken once a day instead of every 8 hours, patients may not be able to recover as expected as the prescription is not being followed (Blissy, 2024).
Prevention of Medication Errors
While medication errors pose serious risk to patients, preventative measures can be implemented at the hospital, pharmacy and patient level to ensure there is a decrease in the risk of medication errors.
In a hospital setting, electronic medication administration can be implemented as a safety measure. Electronic medication administration will be able to identify patient information through barcode scanning to view their medication information, dosage, drug information and document the administration of the medicine (Rodziewicz et al., 2024). Using electronic scanning systems will allow healthcare professionals to ensure that accurate medication is being provided to the correct patient. If the dose is incorrect, the system could detect and provide alerts to providers, creating a safety measure in the administration of patients within a hospital setting (Likic & Maxwell, 2009).
Preventative measures for medication errors based on dispensing can be completed within a pharmacy and hospital setting. Some measures that can be implemented to prevent errors while dispensing medication include look-alike medications being stored away from stronger and more dangerous medications, keeping dangerous medication away from the floor or counter and staying up to date with discarding expired medication (Aronson, 2024).
With many medication errors being caused by patients, patient involvement in preventative measures is also important. As mentioned earlier, inadequate communication between healthcare professionals and patients is an important cause to medication errors. It is common for information being miscommunicated due to language barriers or the use of medical terminology that patients may not understand right away (Shitu et al., 2018). It is essential for healthcare professionals to communicate in patients’ own language if possible or using more understandable medical terminology to ensure patients can understand the care that is being provided to them (Shitu et al., 2018). Utilizing translators are a common measure that can be implemented to encourage good communication between providers and patients (Shitu et al., 2018). As mentioned by Dr. Pooya Beigi, patients becoming active participants in their own health is also essential (Blissy, 2024). It is important that patients share all information with healthcare professionals to ensure they are up to date with the patients’ health information (Blissy, 2024). This includes patients telling their doctors if they have stopped a medication, any side-effects to medicine they have experienced or any changes they have made to the medication they are taking different from their prescription (Blissy, 2024).
Conclusion
To conclude, errors in treatment, specifically medication errors is a concern that must be addressed for the health of patients. While medical errors can occur due to various reasons such as errors made by healthcare professionals, patients, or manufacturers, there are preventative measures that can be implemented to combat medication errors at various levels. Preventative measures like electronic medication administration, keeping dangerous medication secure when dispensing and encouraging better patient-provider communication are all potential ways that support decreasing the risk of medication errors.
Reference
Aronson, J. K. (2009). Medication errors: Definitions and classification. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 67(6), 599–604. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2125.2009.03415.x
Blissy. (2024, Aug 09). Why Your Skin Issue Might Be Misdiagnosed! Dr. Beigi’s Insights | The Blissy Experience Ep. 10 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=yA7PpiNM600
Britten, N. (2009). Medication errors: The role of the patient. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 67(6), 646–650. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2125.2009.03421.x
Likic, R., & Maxwell, S. R. (2009). Prevention of medication errors: Teaching and training. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 67(6), 656–661. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2125.2009.03423.x
Rodziewicz, T. L., Houseman, B., Vaqar, S., Hipskind, J. E. (2024). Medical Error Reduction and Prevention. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499956/
Shitu, Z., Hassan, I., Thwe Aung, M. M., Tuan Kamaruzaman, T. H., & Musa, R. M. (2018). Avoiding medication errors through effective communication in healthcare environment. MoHE, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.15282/mohe.v7i1.202
Tariq, R. A., Vashisht, R., Sinha, A., Scherbak, Y. (2024). Medication Dispensing Errors and Prevention. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519065/
Provided and edited by the members of MARI Research, Error in Medicine Foundation, and MISMEDICINE Research Institute, including Charmi Patel, Bukky Alausa, and Dr. Pooya Beigi, MD. MSc.
