Medication errors in emergency departments: is electronic medical record an effective barrier?

ABSTRACT Objective: To compare medication errors in two emergency departments with electronic medical record, to two departments that had conventional handwritten records at the same organization. Methods: A cross-sectional, retrospective, descriptive, comparative study of medication errors and their classification, according to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, associated with the use of electronic and conventional medical records, in emergency departments of the same organization, during one year. Results: There were 88 events per million opportunities in the departments with electronic medical record and 164 events per million opportunities in the units with conventional medical records. There were more medication errors when using conventional medical record – in 9 of 14 categories of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention. Conclusion: The emergency departments using electronic medical records presented lower levels of medication errors, and contributed to a continuous improvement in patients´ safety.

摘要
研究目的：对比同一医疗机构内，采用电子病历（Electronic Medical Record）的两个急诊科与采用传统手写病历的另外两个急诊科的用药错误情况。
研究方法：本研究为横断面回顾性描述性比较研究，针对同一医疗机构急诊科为期一年的用药错误事件，依据用药错误报告与预防国家协调委员会（National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention）制定的分类标准，对与电子病历、传统手写病历使用相关的用药错误及其分类展开分析。
研究结果：采用电子病历的急诊科每百万次用药机会中发生88起用药错误事件，而采用传统手写病历的急诊科每百万次用药机会中发生164起用药错误事件。在该委员会划分的14个错误分类中，有9个分类的用药错误在使用传统手写病历时发生率更高。
研究结论：采用电子病历的急诊科用药错误发生率更低，有助于持续提升患者安全。