The objective of this study is to calculate the prevalence of errors between a unit dose system, compared to an Automated Dispensing System (ADS) in the phases of the drug therapy process, including prescription, transcription, dispensing and administration of medication in a general hospital to determine the safety and efficiency of the automated system.
Cross-sectional study carried out in a general service hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The error categories by severity level have been established by NCCMERP. These serve as guidelines for organizations and health systems to categorize the types of harm that healthcare personnel can cause a patient during the treatment process. The categories are described as follows⁷: categories A, B, C and D cause no harm, and categories E, F, G, H and I indicate harm and classify it as temporary, permanent, or potentially life threatening.The independent variable of this study was the prevalence of medication errors. The dependent variable was medication errors in ADS, classified by NCCMERP categories. As defined by the NCCMERP, a medication error is “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer. Such events may be related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing, order communication, product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature, compounding, dispensing, distribution, administration, education, monitoring, and use”.
The study consisted of all phases of the drug therapy chain with both medication dispensing systems: unit dose and ADS. The ADS established by the hospital, as well as the unit dose system, work through manual prescription.
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