Title: Discharging patients with prescriptions instead of
medications: sequelae in a teaching hospital.
Authors: Johnson, Kevin B.; Butta, Jeanne K.; Donohue, Pamela K.;
Glenn, Donald J.; Holtzman, Neil A.
Citation: Pediatrics, April 1996 v97 n4 p481(5)
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Abstract: Pediatric patients discharged from the hospital with unfilled
prescriptions appear to be subject to significant medication
errors. Researchers compared the prescription labels,
discharge instruction sheets (DCIs), and medication labels
from 335 prescriptions for 192 patients who were discharged
from an academic children's hospital. Forty discrepancies were
found in this information, giving a 12% error rate for
medication. These errors affected 19% of the patients. Of the
discrepancies, 19 were from original prescription errors, 3
resulted from a different concentration or strength in the
medication provided, 12 had mistakes in the DCI, and 6 were
from differences between the medication label and the
prescription. Pharmacists provided advice about medication to
44% of the patients' families. Filling prescriptions before
discharge, so that they may be checked by health care
providers, may decrease the occurrence of these errors.
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Author's Abstract: COPYRIGHT American Academy of Pediatrics 1996
Objective. This study measures the incidence of discrepancies among
written prescriptions, medication regimens transcribed onto patient
discharge instruction sheets (DCIs), and labels on medications dispensed
by community pharmacies after discharge of patients from an academic