Abstract

Medication errors have been increasingly recognized as a major cause of iatrogenic illness and system-wide improvements have been the focus of prevention efforts. Critically ill patients are particularly vulnerable to injury resulting from medication errors because of the severity of illness, need for high risk medications with a narrow therapeutic index and frequent use of intravenous infusions. According to healthcare and health industry leaders, using information technology enhances patient safety by preventing medical errors, assessment errors and surveillance system with rapid response and reduces the risk of harm created after the fact. Health information technology has been identified as a method to reduce medication errors as well as improve the efficiency and quality of care; however, few studies regarding the impact of health information technology have focused on patients in the intensive care unit. Computerized physician order entry and clinical decision support systems can play a crucial role in decreasing errors in the ordering stage of the medication use process through improving the completeness and legibility of orders, alerting physicians to medication allergies and drug interactions and providing a means for standardization of practice. Electronic surveillance, reminders and alerts identify patients susceptible to an adverse event, communicate critical changes in a patients condition, and facilitate timely and appropriate treatment. In this paper, medical errors are investigated, the role of information technology in reducing and preventing medical errors is investigated, and recommendations are presented regarding the use of information technology for prevention and reduction of medical errors in healthcare institutions. Scientific databases and electronic journal citations were searched to identify articles that discussed the role of health information technology in reducing preventable medical errors and improving patient safety. Dr. Devesh Kapoor | Mrs. Ruchi B Vyas | Mr. Diwakar Dadarwal"To diminish the rates of medication errors and increase patient compliance: Using health information technology as tool" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-2 | Issue-4 , June 2018, URL: http://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd12873.pdf http://www.ijtsrd.com/pharmacy/pharmacoinformatics/12873/to-diminish-the-rates-of-medication-errors-and-increase-patient-compliance-using-health-information-technology-as-tool/dr-devesh-kapoor

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