E-Prescribing First Step to Improved Safety

E-prescribing first step to improved safety.

Change doesn't come without pain, but the suffering caused by medication errors is justifi ca-tion enough to embark on the type of sweeping institutional reforms called for by an Institute of Medicine panel, several experts said. Electronic prescribing, electronic health records, and computerized treatment protocols are indispensable tools for reducing medication errors, according to the IOM re...

Donor screening: first step in safety.

A first step toward understanding patient safety

Patient safety has become an important policy agenda in healthcare systems since publication of the 1999 report entitled "To Err Is Human." The paradigm has changed from blaming the individual for the error to identifying the weakness in the system that led to the adverse events. Anesthesia is one of the first healthcare specialties to adopt techniques and lessons from the aviation industry. Th...

E-prescribing Impact on Patient Safety, Use and Cost

First Step to Independence

The step out of mental hospital back into the community can he a major ordeal for many patients. To provide a halfway stage between hospital and full independence, the Birmingham and District Association for Mental Health recently opened a special short-stay hostel for ex-patients, which is described here by Julian Smithells. In many mental hospitals today there are patients who are ready to ta...