Stewardship-initiated review process helps prevent medication error at discharge

A stewardship-initiated antimicrobial review process shows potential in preventing medication errors at hospital discharge, according to a recent study.

“Developing a systematic process for a multidisciplinary antimicrobial stewardship programme (ASP) team to review all anti-infectives can be a valuable tool in preventing medication errors at hospital discharge,” the authors said.

This study included 45 patients who were discharged on 59 anti-infective prescriptions. Pneumonia (n=10; 22 percent), bacteraemia (n=8; 18 percent), and skin and soft tissue infections (n=7; 16 percent) were the most common indications for such regimens.

Of the patients prescribed anti-infective agents, 19 (42 percent) were identified to have a medication error. Seventy percent of the recommendations by the ASP team had been accepted, and this led to an avoidance of errors in 13 of 19 (68 percent) patients with a medication error prior to hospital discharge.

This prospective study sought to describe a structured, multidisciplinary approach to review anti-infective regimens at discharge and measure the impact of a stewardship-initiated antimicrobial review process in identifying and preventing anti-infective–related medication errors at discharge.

The authors examined adult patients discharged on anti-infectives from October 2013 to May 2014. The ASP classified interventions on anti-infective regimens into predefined categories of medication error.

“Medication reconciliation is a major patient safety concern, and the impact of a structured process to evaluate anti-infective agents at hospital discharge warrants further review,” the authors said.