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| LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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| Year : 2015 | Volume
: 3
| Issue : 1 | Page : 44 |
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The role of information technology in reducing medical errors and human disaster
Ahmad Fayaz-Bakhsh, Azad Shokri
Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| Date of Web Publication | 17-Dec-2014 |
Correspondence Address:
Azad Shokri
Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
Iran
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2347-9019.147205
How to cite this article:
Fayaz-Bakhsh A, Shokri A. The role of information technology in reducing medical errors and human disaster. Int J Health Syst Disaster Manage 2015;3:44 |
How to cite this URL:
Fayaz-Bakhsh A, Shokri A. The role of information technology in reducing medical errors and human disaster. Int J Health Syst Disaster Manage [serial online] 2015 [cited 2023 Jun 5];3:44. Available from: https://www.ijhsdm.org/text.asp?2015/3/1/44/147205 |
Sir,
Ehteshami et al. [1] in their study with the title "The role of health information technology in reducing preventable medical errors and improving patient safety" in 2014 mentioned a variety of technologies to reduce medical errors. Especially, they described the following medication errors which lead to human disaster:
- Computerized provider order enter
- Clinical decision support system
- Barcode medication administration
- Radio frequency identification
- Wireless sensor network
- Electronic health record.
In 2002, a survey was conducted by Kaushal and Bates [2] entitled "Information technology and medication safety: What is the benefit?" For improving patient safety against disaster human, they stated the following technologies which were not mentioned in. [1]
| Automated Dispensing | |  |
Many hospitals have used robots, which recognize medications using bar codes, to automate the prescription-filling process (ordered, transcribed, and dispensed). A robot decreased the dispensing error rate from 2.9% to 0.6% in an adult hospital.
| Computerized Discharge Prescriptions and Instructions | | |
In addition to decreasing medication errors within the ambulatory and hospital settings, information technology can bridge these settings to reduce communication errors further. For example, computers can generate medication instructions and prescriptions at hospital discharge. If an integrated computer system exists, discharge information can be easily exchanged among the inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department settings.
[TAG:2]"Smart" Intravenous Devices[/TAG:2]
Intravenous administration is the route most commonly involved with medication errors. Through simplified programming and computerized checks, "smart" intravenous devices can reduce the chance of error with intravenous medications. These intravenous pumps are especially important for reducing the likelihood of tenfold overdose, a major problem in pediatrics. [2]
It seems that considering these technologies improves patient safety and leads to a reduction of medical errors and human disaster.
| References | | |
| 1. | Ehteshami A, Rezaei P, Tavakoli N, Kasaei M. The role of health information technology in reducing preventable medical errors and improving patient safety. Int J Health Syst Disaster Manag 2013;1:195.  |
| 2. | Kaushal R, Bates DW. Information technology and medication safety: What is the benefit? Qual Saf Health Care 2002;11:261-5. |
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