28th-30th July 2023 Venue: Dorsett Grand Hotel, Subang JayaTheme: Pharmacists In The Evolving Integrated Healthcare Landscaope: Navigating Change And Driving Quality In Primary Care Editors… Read More »Proceedings Of MPS-National Pharmacists Convention 2023
10th – 12th November 2022, Venue: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia
Theme: Pharmacists Building a Better Healthcare System.
Prescriptions with prescribing errors received by an outpatient pharmacy of a teaching hospital were sampled. The types of pharmacist interventions on problematic prescriptions and its outcome were identified and documented. From a total of 6340 prescriptions processed by the outpatient pharmacy in a one-week period, 43 prescriptions (0.68%) required interventions by the pharmacy staff. These included 54% of the prescriptions that were incomplete or inadequately written (errors of omission) and 46% that contained the wrong drug, dose regimen, strength and dosage form (errors of commission). A total of 62 types of action were taken by the pharmacy staff to resolve the 43 problematic prescriptions. These include contacting the prescribers concerned (24.2%), clarifying with the patient or his/her representative (19.4%), contacting the prescriber’s nurse (17.7%) and checking the patient’s appointment or identity card (4.8%). Of the 43 problematic prescriptions, 48.8% were clarified without any change and dispensed while 32.6% were changed and dispensed. The study reinforces the importance of prescription screening and interventions by pharmacists in minimising preventable adverse events attributed to medication errors. It also emphasizes the necessity of interdisciplinary communication and cooperation in identifying and resolving prescribing errors and irregularities in order to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes for the patient.
New prescriptions received by an outpatient pharmacy department of a teaching hospital were audited retrospectively for noncompliance with prescription writing requirements as well as to identify the types of prescribing errors. Of the 397 prescriptions screened in a single day, 96.7% had one or more of the legal or procedural requirements missing. These errors of omission, included prescriptions without the patient’s age, date, clinic or department where the prescription was issued, route of administration, dose and frequency of the drug to be used, strength, dosage form and quantity of drug to be supplied. Additionally, there were errors of commission involving 8.4% of the prescribed drugs. A total of 39 drug-drug interactions were identified; 15 were classified as potentially hazardous but could be overcome with careful monitoring of the patients. The results of the present study show a low compliance rate to the legal and procedural requirements in prescription writing. This indicates a need for pharmacy and medical educators to further emphasize the importance of writing clear and complete prescriptions. It also calls for the implementation of educational and monitoring programmes to bring more awareness to all concerned so as to reduce the rate of noncompliance and hence minimize the occurrence of prescribing errors.