The number of medication errors that occur at hospitals should be zero. Instead, approximately 1.3 million Americans are injured each year across this nation due to medication errors. While doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are to blame in many situations, some of the most medical errors occur due to faulty systems in place.
One such example of this is the electronic health record (EHR) systems. According to Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority report, more than 300 medication errors occurred over the past ten years in Pennsylvania hospitals statewide due to incorrect settings in hospital electronic health record systems. The main reason for these errors was the default setting.
The software default setting was regularly used to populate information for efficiency; however, the defaults actually caused harm to some patients. In fact, 324 medication errors involving software defaults occurred over the past decade. The three most common errors included:
- Wrong time errors – patients were given medications at incorrect times, which could result in a patient receiving an extra dose of medication
- Wrong dose errors – patients received the wrong drug dosages
- Inappropriate use of automated stopping function – patients’ medications were stopped prematurely
As shown, when systems are not used correctly or are not designed correctly, patients can suffer the consequences. This is why hospitals and the healthcare industry as a whole should analyze systems in place and make necessary changes that will decrease harm to patients and save lives.
If you received the wrong dosage of drugs that caused you harm, contact Kennedy Hodges, at 888-526-7616, to speak with a skilled pharmacy error attorney in a free consultation today.