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Outpatient Prescription Errors: Detection, Analysis, and Impact on Safety

This study has been completed.
Sponsor:
Collaborators:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Amanda Kennedy, University of Vermont
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT00256568
First received: November 17, 2005
Last updated: December 14, 2011
Last verified: December 2011
History of Changes
  Purpose

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


Condition Intervention
Medication Errors
 Behavioral: reporting system

Study Type: Observational
Study Design: Observational Model: Cohort
Time Perspective: Prospective
Official Title: Outpatient Prescription Errors: Detection, Analysis, and Impact on Safety

Resource links provided by NLM:

U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by University of Vermont:

Enrollment: 103
Study Start Date: September 2003
Study Completion Date: August 2008
Groups/Cohorts Assigned Interventions
Primary Care Practices
One hundred and three prescribers, managers, nurses and office staff at seven primary care practices in Vermont
 Behavioral: reporting system
Nurses and office staff were asked to report all communications with community pharmacists regarding prescription problems

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

Ages Eligible for Study:   18 Years and older
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Sampling Method:   Non-Probability Sample
Study Population

Primary Care Practices

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Employed in a physician's office or community pharmacy

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not employed in a physician's office or community pharmacy
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00256568

Locations
United States, Vermont
University of Vermont, Division of General Internal Medicine
Burlington, Vermont, United States, 05401
Sponsors and Collaborators
University of Vermont
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Amanda G Kennedy, PharmD University of Vermont
  More Information

Publications:

Responsible Party: Amanda Kennedy, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Vermont
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00256568     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: K08 HS13891
Study First Received: November 17, 2005
Last Updated: December 14, 2011
Health Authority: United States: Institutional Review Board

Keywords provided by University of Vermont:
Medical Errors
Medication Errors
Prescriptions, Drug
Pharmacies
Ambulatory Care Facilities

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on May 16, 2013