Prevention and Management of Med Errors
Course #23-344 - $15 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Medication errors are a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are often the last healthcare workers to see patients in the community before they take their medications. Medications and the processes around them are constantly changing as new drugs are introduced and technology changes. Several national organizations, as well as many individual institutions, collect data on medication errors in order to identify ways to prevent errors and improve patient safety. It's important for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to know the causes of medication errors and practice techniques to prevent them.
This course is designed for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who may take steps to prevent and/or manage medication errors.
The purpose of this course is to help pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in all settings develop a better knowledge base from which they can prevent medication errors.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- State why it is important to be able to define and recognize medication errors.
- Identify where medication errors may occur in the medication use process.
- Describe the possible causes of medication errors.
- Discuss strategies to prevent medication errors during dispensing.
- Recognize computer alerts that require pharmacist review.
- Explain how to use verbal order read-back.
- Review 3 methods that can be used to ensure effective patient communication.
- Outline the role of root cause analysis and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) as part of the investigation of the causes of medication errors.
Flora Harp, PharmD, is an Editor at TRC Healthcare. She obtained her PharmD degree from Wayne State University. She then completed a community practice residency at CVS Health, focused on corporate clinical support. After completing her residency, Flora went on to hold different roles at CVS Health, where she supported various clinical services and programs. She also spent time as a formulary management pharmacist for Medicare Part D plans at Prime Therapeutics. Prior to joining TRC Healthcare in 2016, Flora was a Clinical Services Manager at Thrifty White Pharmacy, where she oversaw various clinical programs including immunizations, rapid diagnostic testing, medication therapy management, and testing of innovative clinical service models in collaboration with payers, accountable care organizations, manufacturers, and others. She also helped support the early stages of seeking URAC accreditation for their growing specialty pharmacy business.
Contributing faculty, Flora Harp, PharmD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.