Wall Street Journal Examines Efforts By Hospitals To Reduce Errors Related To High-Risk Medications

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 06 Mar 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined how hospitals have begun "taking steps to prevent errors in the use of so-called high-alert medications" -- treatments that, "when given in the wrong dose or used incorrectly, have the highest risk of seriously harming or even killing a patient." According to the Journal, high-risk medications -- which include blood thinners, sedatives, pain medications and diabetes treatments -- are "most essential to hospitals" and "can lead to disasters."

Amid concerns about high-risk medications, "hospitals are scrambling to overhaul their safety practices" by "working with drug makers to redesign confusing packages and eliminating multiple concentrations of the same drug from supply cabinets," the Journal reports. Hospitals also have begun to invest in health care information technology, such as bar code systems and "smart pumps" to prevent medication errors. "In perhaps the most challenging step, hospitals are tackling the 'grab and go' culture in busy hospitals that evidence increasingly shows causes errors," according to the Journal.

The Journal also profiled several efforts to prevent medication errors at hospitals nationwide (Landro, Wall Street Journal, 3/5).

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