The effect of computer-assisted prescription writing on XXXX prescription errors.

@entity1 @entity341 @entity1168
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether computer-assisted prescription writing reduces the frequency of prescription errors in the @entity341 ( @entity341 ). METHODS: A pre-post retrospective analysis was used to compare errors between handwritten (HW) and computer-assisted (CA) @entity341 prescriptions. Prescriptions were reviewed for pharmacist clarifications. A clarification was defined as an error if missing information, incorrect information, incorrect dose, non-formulary medication, or illegibility was the reason for clarification. The HW and @entity1168 were compared using odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). RESULTS: During the pre-intervention period, there were 7,036 @entity1 visits with 2,326 HW @entity341 prescriptions filled for 1,459 @entity1 . There were 91 clarifications, with a rate of 3.9%. There were 54 HW errors, for an error rate of 2.3%. During the post-intervention period, there were 7,845 @entity1 visits with 1,594 CA prescriptions filled for 1,056 @entity1 . There were 13 clarifications, with a clarification rate of 0.8%, and 11 errors, for a @entity1168 .7%. The CA prescriptions were substantially less likely to contain an error [OR 0.31 (95% CI = 0.10 to 0.36)] or to require pharmacist clarification [OR 0.19 (95% CI = 0.10 to 0.36)] than were the HW prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS: Computer-assisted prescriptions were more than three times less likely to contain errors and five times less likely to require pharmacist clarification than handwritten prescriptions.
