What Is E-Prescription Medication Errors?

is considered cost efficient compared to the financial loss the hospital could have incurred if a medication error did occur. (Julie Ann Sakowski & and Alana Ketchel, 2013). E-prescribing is the provider’s ability to request patient prescription electronically directly to their choice pharmacy. E-prescribing is meant to enhance patient safety and aid in reducing medication error. E-prescribing and Bar Code technology work together to provide the ‘right” medication to the patient. When the drug’s bar code is scanned, it alerts the pharmacy staff if there is an error in the medication being dispensed. E-prescribing is supposed to help avoid the errors that occur when providers manually prescribe medications and also help to lower cost by offering less expensive medication.

It was noted that E-prescribing takes longer to complete than manual written requests, noting that e-prescribing is not beneficial with time savings. There is also the upfront cost to purchase the software with no incentive to adopt. Other barriers include a limited product list, implementation challenges, as well as some providers have issues transmitting the request to pharmacies. However, E-prescribing links a patients medication history to their EHR as well as increase practice efficiency. (Joy M. Grossman, 2007). Errors may still occur with Bar Code technology such as placing the right patient right drug label on the wrong medication. This fault occurs with the pharmacy and known as labeling errors. Errors involving Bar Code technology can also occur at other stages other than dispensing such as ordering, transcribing, administering, and monitoring. (Karen C. Nanji,