Clinical trial NCT00256568: Outpatient Prescription Errors: Detection, Analysis, and Impact on Safety
Official title: Outpatient Prescription Errors: Detection, Analysis, and Impact on Safety
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Medication Errors
Keywords: Medical Errors
Medication Errors
Prescriptions, Drug
Pharmacies
Ambulatory Care Facilities
Lead sponsor: University of Vermont
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
name: Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care
First posted: 2005-11-21
Enrollment: 103
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Primary Care Practices

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to better understand outpatient prescribing errors through clinic and pharmacy-based error reporting systems.

Detailed description: Medication errors cause substantial morbidity and mortality in the United States. However, relatively little is known about medication errors in the outpatient setting. The broad goal of this proposal is to improve outpatient safety. Specifically, this research plan promotes the understanding of the causes of outpatient prescription errors. The specific aims of this project are:

1. To develop and evaluate a novel reporting system in physicians' offices for detecting prescription errors
2. To develop and evaluate a novel improvement system in community pharmacies to increase prescription error reporting by pharmacists
3. To analyze reports of outpatient prescription errors and understand their root causes

To achieve these specific aims, statewide research will be conducted utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods including root cause analysis, failure mode and effects analysis, and surveys. This research plan will promote patient safety by furthering the understanding of the causes of outpatient prescription errors in all outpatient populations, including rural, women, children, elderly, low income, and the chronically ill.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Employed in a physician's office or community pharmacy

Exclusion Criteria:

* Not employed in a physician's office or community pharmacy

Primary outcomes:
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Burlington
country: United States
facility: University of Vermont, Division of General Internal Medicine
state: Vermont
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Vermont
name: Amanda G Kennedy, PharmD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Kennedy AG, Littenberg B. Medication error reporting by community pharmacists in Vermont. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2004 Jul-Aug;44(4):434-8. doi: 10.1331/1544345041475724.
citation: Kennedy AG, Littenberg B, Vezina LC. Vioxx-Viagra confusion. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2002 Nov 1;59(21):2112. doi: 10.1093/ajhp/59.21.2112a. No abstract available.
citation: Kennedy AG, Littenberg B, Senders JW. Using nurses and office staff to report prescribing errors in primary care. Int J Qual Health Care. 2008 Aug;20(4):238-45. doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzn015. Epub 2008 Apr 22.