Avoiding Pharmacy Errors - Problem Solving Speech

493 Words2 Pages
OUTLINE GENERAL PURPOSE:To inform SPECIFIC PURPOSE:To educate the audience about prescription errors. CENTRAL IDEA:To describe different ways to reduce the number of prescription errors. INTRODUCTIONAccording to the CDC1, from 2005-2008, 48% of people surveyed reported “using at least one prescription drup in the past month”. A. Dr. office visits – 74% involve drug therapy (2.3 billion medications) B. Hospital ER visits – 78% involve drug therapy (238.3 million medications) C. uspharmacist.com - “An investigation by a Boston newspaper of 51 Massachusetts pharmacies in 1999 revealed that 4% of prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists contained errors; 88% of these involved the wrong drug or strength.” 2 MAJOR POINTS A. Types of errors pharmacy can't clearly read prescription technician chooses wrong medication because of similar spelling wrong strength chosen for medication technician inputs wrong short codes for directions wrong medications put in bottle pharmacist does not catch the errors made by the technician B. Ways patient can reduce prescription errors Know who your doctor is Know what medications your dr has prescribed (strength & directions) Make sure dr and pharmacy is aware of all medication allergies and all other meds being taken Look at prescription before leaving pharmacy Don't hesitate to ask questions Give pharmacy phone number C. Ways pharmacies can reduce prescription errors verify all patient info is accurate & up to date ask patient what dr was seen if you can't read signature scan image of Rx into computer councelling notes for dosage/direction changes pop-up warning boxes for high risk medication (ex. Coumadin) split verification allow E-Scribing call doctor to verify always ask patient if they have any questions

More about Avoiding Pharmacy Errors - Problem Solving Speech

Open Document