Eliminating Medication Errors
UPMC has declared war on medication errors. To fight this important battle, UPMC uses advanced technology to find opportunities to enhance safety and eliminate the potential for medication errors.
Information technology that stresses safety is playing an expanded role in prescribing practices at UPMC physician offices. Decision support tools, which are developed and reviewed by UPMC’s world-renowned medical experts, have been built into the system. Decision support rules quickly alert physicians and other caregivers if the patient is allergic to the medication being prescribed. Instantaneous alerts also are issued if the medication being prescribed will cause a dangerous interaction with other medications the patient is taking.
In its hospital pharmacies, UPMC is pioneering the use of robotic technology such as the Robot-Rx system. By using this technology instead of manually selecting medications from stock, UPMC is eliminating pharmacy dispensing errors for inpatients. Robot-Rx scans bar-coded medications from the inventory and packages them for delivery to inpatient units. Once on the patient unit, automated medication dispends cabinets are used to add an additional layer of patient safety.
UPMC was among the first providers of health care in western Pennsylvania to submit information to MedMARx, a national medication error reporting database. UPMC has used data from MedMARx to identify important issues in the medication administration process, analyze any shortcomings in how the process works, and take the necessary steps to enhance safety.