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Journal of Medical Internet Research Sep 2022Electronic health records (EHRs) and poor system interoperability are well-known issues in the use of health information technologies in most high-income countries... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Electronic health records (EHRs) and poor system interoperability are well-known issues in the use of health information technologies in most high-income countries worldwide. Despite the abundance of literature exploring their relationship, their practical implications on patient safety and quality of care remain unclear.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to examine how EHR interoperability affects patient safety, or other dimensions of care quality, in high-income health care settings.
METHODS
A systematic search was conducted using 4 web-based medical journal repositories and grey literature sources. The publications included were published in English between 2010 and 2022, pertaining to EHR use, interoperability, and patient safety or care quality in high-income settings. Screening was completed by 3 researchers in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Risk of bias assessments were performed using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions and the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tools. The findings were presented as a narrative synthesis and mapped based on the Institute of Medicine's framework for health care quality.
RESULTS
A total of 12 studies met the inclusion criteria to be included in our review. The findings were categorized into 6 common outcome measure categories: patient safety events, medication safety, data accuracy and errors, care effectiveness, productivity, and cost savings. EHR interoperability positively influenced medication safety, reduced patient safety events, and reduced costs. Improvements in time saving and clinical workflow are mixed. However, true measures of effect are difficult to determine with certainty because of the heterogeneity in the outcome measures used and notable variation in study quality.
CONCLUSIONS
The benefits of EHR interoperability on the quality and safety of care remain unclear and reflect extensive heterogeneity in the interventions, designs, and outcome measures used. The establishment of common health information technology research outcome measures would support higher-quality research on the topic. Future research efforts should focus on both the positive and negative impacts of interoperable EHR interventions and explore patient perspectives, given the growing trend for patient involvement and stewardship over their own electronic clinical data.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
PROSPERO CRD42020209285; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=209285.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)
RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044941.
Topics: Developed Countries; Electronic Health Records; Humans; Income; Patient Safety; Quality of Health Care; United States
PubMed: 36107486
DOI: 10.2196/38144 -
Pharmacology Research & Perspectives Oct 2022Pharmacy services within hospitals are changing, with more taking on medication reconciliation activities. This systematic review was conducted to determine the measured... (Review)
Review
Pharmacy services within hospitals are changing, with more taking on medication reconciliation activities. This systematic review was conducted to determine the measured impacts of Pharmacy teams working in an acute or emergency medicine department. The protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and was prospectively registered on PROSPERO, National Institute for Health and Care Research, UK registration number: CRD42020187487. The systematic review had two co-primary aims: a reduction in the number of incorrect prescriptions on admission by comparing the medication list from primary care to secondary care, and a reduction in the severity of harm caused by these incorrect prescriptions; chosen to determine the impact of pharmacy-led medication reconciliation services in the emergency and acute medicine setting. Seventeen articles were included. Fifteen were non-randomized controlled trials and two were randomized controlled trials. The number of patients combined for all studies was 7630. No studies included were based within the UK. All studies showed benefits in terms of a reduction in medicine errors and patient harm, compared to control arms. Nine articles were included in a statistical analysis comparing the pharmacy intervention arm with the non-pharmacy control arm, with a Chi of 101.10 and I value = 92%. However, studies were heterogenous with different outcome measures and many showed evidence of bias. The included studies consistently indicated that pharmacy services based within acute or emergency medicine departments in hospitals were associated with fewer medication errors. Further studies are needed to understand the health and economic impact of deploying a pharmacy service in acute medical settings including out-of-hours working.
Topics: Emergency Medicine; Humans; Medication Errors; Medication Reconciliation; Pharmaceutical Services
PubMed: 36102210
DOI: 10.1002/prp2.1007 -
PloS One 2022Potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs) of antidiabetic drugs (ADs) (PIPADs) to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have been reported in some studies....
INTRODUCTION
Potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs) of antidiabetic drugs (ADs) (PIPADs) to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have been reported in some studies. The detection of PIPs in electronic databases requires the development of explicit definitions. This approach is widely used in geriatrics but has not been extended to PIPADs in diabetes mellitus. The objective of the present literature review was to identify all explicit definitions of PIPADs in patients with T2DM.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We performed a systematic review of the literature listed on Medline (via PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science, and, Embase between 2010 and 2021. The query included a combination of three concepts ("T2DM" AND "PIPs" AND "ADs") and featured a total of 86 keywords. Two independent reviewers selected publications, extracted explicit definitions of PIPADs, and then classified the definitions by therapeutic class and organ class.
RESULTS
Of the 4,093 screened publications, 39 were included. In all, 171 mentions of PIPADs (corresponding to 56 unique explicit definitions) were identified. More than 50% of the definitions were related to either metformin (34%) or sulfonylureas (29%). More than 75% of the definitions were related to either abnormal renal function (56%) or age (22%). In addition, 20% (n = 35) mentions stated that biguanides were inappropriate in patients with renal dysfunction and 17.5% (n = 30) stated that sulfonylureas were inappropriate above a certain age. The definitions of PIPADs were heterogeneous and had various degrees of precision.
CONCLUSION
Our results showed that researchers focused primarily on the at-risk situations related to biguanide prescriptions in patients with renal dysfunction and the prescription of sulfonylureas to older people. Our systematic review of the literature revealed a lack of consensus on explicit definitions of PIPADs, which were heterogeneous and limited (in most cases) to a small number of drugs and clinical situations.
Topics: Aged; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Inappropriate Prescribing; Kidney Diseases; Metformin; Sulfonylurea Compounds
PubMed: 36094919
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274256 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Sep 2022Drug-related problems (DRP, defined as adverse drug events/reactions and medication errors) are a common threat for patient safety. With the aim to aid improved... (Review)
Review
Drug-related problems (DRP, defined as adverse drug events/reactions and medication errors) are a common threat for patient safety. With the aim to aid improved allocation of specialist resources and to improve detection and prevention of DRP, numerous predictive scoring tools have been proposed. The external validation and evidence for the transferability of these tools still faces limitations. However, the proposed scoring tools include partly overlapping sets of similar factors, which may allow a new approach to estimate the external usability and validity of individual risk factors. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review and analysis. We identified 14 key studies that assessed 844 candidate risk factors for inclusion into predictive scoring tools. After consolidation to account for overlapping terminology and variable definitions, we assessed each risk factor in the number of studies it was assessed, and, if it was found to be a significant predictor of DRP, whether it was included in a final scoring tool. The latter included intake of ≥ 8 drugs, drugs of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) class N, ≥1 comorbidity, an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <30 mL/min and age ≥60 years. The methodological approach and the individual risk factors presented in this review may provide a new starting point for improved risk assessment.
PubMed: 36079114
DOI: 10.3390/jcm11175185 -
Journal of Patient Safety Jan 2023Critical incident reporting systems (CIRS) are in use worldwide. They are designed to improve patient care by detecting and analyzing critical and adverse patient events...
INTRODUCTION
Critical incident reporting systems (CIRS) are in use worldwide. They are designed to improve patient care by detecting and analyzing critical and adverse patient events and by taking corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence. Critical incident reporting systems have recently been criticized for their lack of effectiveness in achieving actual patient safety improvements. However, no overview yet exists of the reported incidents' characteristics, their communication within institutions, or actions taken either to correct them or to prevent their recurrence. Our main goals were to systematically describe the reported CIRS events and to assess the actions taken and their learning effects. In this systematic review of studies based on CIRS data, we analyzed the main types of critical incidents (CIs), the severity of their consequences, their contributing factors, and any reported corrective actions.
METHODS
Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we queried MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and Scopus for publications on hospital-based CIRS. We classified the consequences of the incidents according to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention index, the contributing factors according to the Yorkshire Contributory Factors Framework and the Human Factors Classification Framework, and all corrective actions taken according to an action hierarchy model on intervention strengths.
RESULTS
We reviewed 41 studies, which covered 479,483 CI reports from 212 hospitals in 17 countries. The most frequent type of incident was medication related (28.8%); the most frequent contributing factor was labeled "active failure" within health care provision (26.1%). Of all professions, nurses submitted the largest percentage (83.7%) of CI reports. Actions taken to prevent future CIs were described in 15 studies (36.6%). Overall, the analyzed studies varied considerably regarding methodology and focus.
CONCLUSIONS
This review of studies from hospital-based CIRS provides an overview of reported CIs' contributing factors, characteristics, and consequences, as well as of the actions taken to prevent their recurrence. Because only 1 in 3 studies reported on corrective actions within the healthcare facilities, more emphasis on such actions and learnings from CIRS is required. However, incomplete or fragmented reporting and communication cycles may additionally limit the potential value of CIRS. To make a CIRS a useful tool for improving patient safety, the focus must be put on its strength of providing new qualitative insights in unknown hazards and also on the development of tools to facilitate nomenclature and management CIRS events, including corrective actions in a more standardized manner.
Topics: Humans; Patient Safety; Risk Management; Hospitals; Medication Errors; Learning
PubMed: 35985209
DOI: 10.1097/PTS.0000000000001072 -
Frontiers in Medicine 2022Improving health care quality and ensuring patient safety is impossible without addressing medical errors that adversely affect patient outcomes. Therefore, it is...
BACKGROUND AND AIM
Improving health care quality and ensuring patient safety is impossible without addressing medical errors that adversely affect patient outcomes. Therefore, it is essential to correctly estimate the incidence rates and implement the most appropriate solutions to control and reduce medical errors. We identified such interventions.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic review of systematic reviews by searching four databases (PubMed, Scopus, Ovid Medline, and Embase) until January 2021 to elicit interventions that have the potential to decrease medical errors. Two reviewers independently conducted data extraction and analyses.
RESULTS
Seventysix systematic review papers were included in the study. We identified eight types of interventions based on medical error type classification: overall medical error, medication error, diagnostic error, patients fall, healthcare-associated infections, transfusion and testing errors, surgical error, and patient suicide. Most studies focused on medication error (66%) and were conducted in hospital settings (74%).
CONCLUSIONS
Despite a plethora of suggested interventions, patient safety has not significantly improved. Therefore, policymakers need to focus more on the implementation considerations of selected interventions.
PubMed: 35966854
DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.875426 -
PloS One 2022This study systematically reviewed studies to determine the frequency and nature of medication administration errors in Latin American hospitals.
PURPOSE
This study systematically reviewed studies to determine the frequency and nature of medication administration errors in Latin American hospitals.
SUMMARY
We systematically searched the medical literature of seven electronic databases to identify studies on medication administration errors in Latin American hospitals using the direct observation method. Studies published in English, Spanish, or Portuguese between 1946 and March 2021 were included. A total of 10 studies conducted at 22 hospitals were included in the review. Nursing professionals were the most frequently observed during medication administration and were observers in four of the ten included studies. Total number of error opportunities was used as a parameter to calculate error rates. The administration error rate had a median of 32% (interquartile range 16%-35.8%) with high variability in the described frequencies (9%-64%). Excluding time errors, the median error rate was 9.7% (interquartile range 7.4%-29.5%). Four different definitions of medication errors were used in these studies. The most frequently observed errors were time, dose, and omission. Only four studies described the therapeutic classes or groups involved in the errors, with systemic anti-infectives being the most reported. None of the studies assessed the severity or outcome of the errors. The assessment of the overall risk bias revealed that one study had low risk, three had moderate risk, and three had high risk. In the assessment of the exploratory, observational, and before-after studies, two were classified as having fair quality and one as having poor quality.
CONCLUSION
The administration error rate in Latin America was high, even when time errors were excluded. The variation observed in the frequencies can be explained by the different contexts in which the study was conducted. Future research using direct observation techniques is necessary to more accurately estimate the nature and severity of medication administration errors.
Topics: Databases, Factual; Hospitals; Humans; Latin America; Medication Errors; Pharmaceutical Preparations
PubMed: 35925985
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272123 -
Scientific Reports Aug 2022Tools to accurately predict and detect adverse drug reactions (ADR) in elderly patients have not been developed. We aimed to identify and evaluate reports on tools that... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Tools to accurately predict and detect adverse drug reactions (ADR) in elderly patients have not been developed. We aimed to identify and evaluate reports on tools that predict and detect ADR in elderly patients (≥ 60 years). In this review, we followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Databases were searched until January 2022 using key terms "elderly," "adverse drug reaction," and "detection instruments." Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria, and they examined assorted interventions: STOPP/START version 1/2 (n = 10), Beers Criteria 2012 or 2015 (n = 4), Systematic Tool to Reduce Inappropriate Prescribing (STRIP) (n = 2), Tool to Reduce Inappropriate Medications (TRIM) (n = 1), Medication Risk Score (MERIS) (n = 1), Computerized alert systems (n = 1), and Norwegian General Practice-Nursing Home criteria (n = 1). The interventions affected the number of potential prescription omissions (OR, 0.50 [0.37-0.69]; p < 0.0001; four studies). No apparent reduction in the number of drug interactions within 2 months (OR, 0.84 [0.70-1.02]; p = 0.08; two studies) and mortality (OR, 0.92 [0.76-1.12]; p = 0.41; three studies) was observed. In conclusion, there is no definitive and validated assessment tool for detecting and predicting ADR in elderly patients. Thus, more research on refining existing tools or developing new ones is warranted.
Topics: Aged; Drug Interactions; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; Humans; Inappropriate Prescribing; Nursing Homes; Potentially Inappropriate Medication List
PubMed: 35915219
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17410-w -
Journal of the American Medical... Sep 2022To summarize current evidence regarding facility and prescriber characteristics associated with potentially harmful medication (PHM) use by residents in nursing homes... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVES
To summarize current evidence regarding facility and prescriber characteristics associated with potentially harmful medication (PHM) use by residents in nursing homes (NHs), which could inform the development of interventions to reduce this potentially harmful practice.
DESIGN
Scoping review.
SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS
Studies conducted in the United States that described facility and prescriber factors associated with PHM use in NHs.
METHODS
Electronic searches of PubMed/MEDLINE were conducted for articles published in English between April 2011 and November 2021. PHMs were defined based on the Beers List criteria. Studies testing focused interventions targeting PHM prescribing or deprescribing were excluded. Studies were characterized by the strengths and weaknesses of the analytic approach and generalizability.
RESULTS
Systematic search yielded 1253 articles. Of these, 29 were assessed in full text and 20 met inclusion criteria. Sixteen examined antipsychotic medication (APM) use, 2 anticholinergic medications, 1 sedative-hypnotics, and 2 overall PHM use. APM use was most commonly associated with facilities with a higher proportion of male patients, younger patients, and patients with severe cognitive impairment, anxiety, depression, and aggressive behavior. The use of APM and anticholinergic medications was associated with low registered nurse staffing ratios and for-profit facility status. No studies evaluated prescriber characteristics.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Included studies primarily examined APM use. The most commonly reported facility characteristics were consistent with previously reported indicators of poor NH quality and NHs with patient case mix more likely to use PHMs.
Topics: Antipsychotic Agents; Cholinergic Antagonists; Drug Prescriptions; Female; Humans; Inappropriate Prescribing; Male; Nursing Homes; United States
PubMed: 35868350
DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2022.06.008 -
International Journal of Critical... 2022Medication errors (MEs) present a significant issue in health care area, as they pose a threat to patient safety and could occur at any stage of the medication use... (Review)
Review
Medication errors (MEs) present a significant issue in health care area, as they pose a threat to patient safety and could occur at any stage of the medication use process. The objective of this systematic review was to review studies reporting the rates, prevalence, and/or incidence of various MEs in different health care clinical settings in Jordan. We searched PubMed, HINARI, Google, and SCOPUS for relevant published studies. We included observational, cross-sectional or cohort studies on MEs targeting adults in different health-care settings in Jordan. A total of 411 records were identified through searching different databases. Following the removal of duplicates, screening of title, abstract and full-text screening, 24 papers were included for the final review step. Prescribing errors was the most common error reported in the included studies, where it was reported in 15 studies. The prevalence of prescribing errors ranged from 0.1% to 96%. Two studies reported unintentional discrepancies and documentation errors as other types of MEs, where the prevalence of unintentional discrepancies ranged from 47% to 67.9%, and the prevalence of documentation errors ranged from 33.7% to 65%. In conclusion, a wide variation was found between the reviewed studies in the error prevalence rates. This variation may be due to the variation in the clinical settings, targeted populations, methodologies employed. There is an imperative need for addressing the issue of MEs and improving drug therapy practice among health-care professionals by introducing education and training.
PubMed: 35845119
DOI: 10.4103/ijciis.ijciis_72_21