OBJECTIVE To describe the frequency medication error disclosure to the team and to the family in an oncology pediatric patients' intensive care unit. METHODS This was a descriptive and exploratory study performed between March 1 and May 31, 2008. A medication error report form was developed and implemented, to be completed by the professionals involved in the unit's medication process. RESU...

Computerized medication alerts (e.g., drug-drug interaction alerts), which are intended to protect patient safety, should also be designed to support prescriber workflow. However, relatively few studies have examined the use of medication alerts during patient care processes. To assess barriers associated with the use of medication alerts, we directly observed medication prescribing during rout...

OBJECTIVE To outline some of the causes of medication errors and recommend ways that managed care pharmacy organizations and managed care pharmacists can prevent some of these errors through practitioner and patient education. BACKGROUND Patient safety has become a major concern since the November 1999 release of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, To Err Is Human. Errors involving prescr...

Background In health care, there are increasing demands for efficiency and safe patient care. Concomitantly, requirements to patient-related documentation have risen among others for medication. Documentation is, however, time consuming and therefore not always done diligently, perhaps especially on weekends. One proven way to improve patient safety is the review of medication by a pharmacist a...

Increasing numbers of patients are surviving the intensive care unit. Concordant with our shifting focus to minimizing intensive care unit-acquired morbidity, in the present issue of Critical Care Moyen, Camire, and Stelfox describe the importance of quality pharmacotherapy. They describe challenges and potential solutions to this source of iatrogenic injury in our vulnerable patients. Their ar...

PURPOSE This qualitative study in patients with type 2 diabetes and health care professionals (HCPs) aimed to investigate which factors they perceive to enhance or impede medication information provision in primary care. Similarities and differences in perspectives were explored. METHODS Eight semistructured focus groups were conducted, four with type 2 diabetes patients (n=25) and four with ...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have demonstrated the short-term efficacy of pharmacotherapy and behavior therapy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but no longer-term (i.e., >4 months) investigations have compared these 2 treatments or their combination. METHODS A group of 579 children with ADHD Combined Type, aged 7 to 9.9 years, were assigned to 14 months of medication manage...

BACKGROUND The magnitude of safety risks related to medications of the older adults has been evidenced by numerous studies, but less is known of how to manage and prevent these risks in different health care settings. The aim of this study was to coordinate resources for prospective medication risk management of home care clients ≥ 65 years in primary care and to develop a study design for demo...

OBJECTIVES To describe the type, frequency, seasonal and regional distribution of medication incidents in primary care in Switzerland and to elucidate possible risk factors for medication incidents. DESIGN Prospective surveillance study. SETTING Swiss primary healthcare, Swiss Sentinel Surveillance Network. PARTICIPANTS Patients with drug treatment who experienced any erroneous event rela...