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Study finds 10% of Bay State patients are harmed by medication errors

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 24, 2008

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One in 10 patients admitted to six Massachusetts community hospitals experiences a harmful medication error, according to a $5 million study released last month. The rate of errors in this study was twice what had been found previously at academic medical centers.

Investigators reviewed 4,200 medical charts from January 2005 to August 2006 and found that 10.4% of those patients had experienced an adverse drug event.

The study was released by the New England Healthcare Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, a quasi-government agency.

The research was led by David W. Bates, MD, medical director of clinical and quality analysis and information systems at Partners Healthcare System in Boston.

Dr. Bates and colleagues concluded that implementing computerized physician order entry systems could cut medication errors by 70%. But they estimated that, on average, it would cost $2.1 million to implement such a system and another $500,000 annually to keep it going. Those costs could be recouped within 26 months, the study said.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/03/24/prbf0324.htm.

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