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AHRQ Research Studies Date
Topics
- Access to Care (1)
- Adverse Drug Events (ADE) (3)
- Adverse Events (3)
- Community-Based Practice (1)
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) (1)
- (-) Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing) (10)
- Evidence-Based Practice (1)
- (-) Health Information Technology (HIT) (10)
- Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (1)
- Medical Errors (2)
- Medication (9)
- Medication: Safety (3)
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- Provider: Pharmacist (2)
- Surgery (1)
- Vulnerable Populations (1)
AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 10 of 10 Research Studies DisplayedPitts SI, Olson s, Yanek LR
Pharmacy e-prescription dispensing before and after CancelRx implementation.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of implementation of e-prescription cancellation messaging (CancelRx) with medication dispensing after discontinuation of e-prescriptions in electronic health records (EHRs). Patients who had at least one medication e-prescribed in ambulatory care to a health system pharmacy and discontinued within the study period participated in a case series with interrupted time series analysis. Findings indicated that CancelRx implementation was associated with an immediate and sustained reduction in the proportion of e-prescriptions sold after discontinuation in the EHR. The authors concluded that widespread implementation of CancelRx could significantly improve medication safety through the reduction of medication dispensing after discontinuation by prescribers.
AHRQ-funded; HS026584.
Citation: Pitts SI, Olson s, Yanek LR .
Pharmacy e-prescription dispensing before and after CancelRx implementation.
JAMA Intern Med 2023 Oct; 183(10):1120-26. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.4192..
Keywords: Medication, Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Health Information Technology (HIT), Provider: Pharmacist
Taft T, Rudd EA, Thraen I
"Are we there yet?" Ten persistent hazards and inefficiencies with the use of medication administration technology from the perspective of practicing nurses.
The objectives of this study were to characterize persistent hazards and inefficiencies in inpatient medication administration, to explore cognitive attributes of medication administration tasks, and to discuss strategies to reduce technology-related hazards. Researchers interviewed nurses at two urban US health systems. Persistent safety hazards and inefficiencies related to medication administration technology were organized around the perception-action cycle (PAC) cycle. The researchers concluded that errors may persist in medication administration despite successful deployment of Bar Code Medication Administration and Electronic Medication Administration Record. Opportunities to improve would require a deeper understanding of high-level reasoning in medication administration.
AHRQ-funded; HS025136.
Citation: Taft T, Rudd EA, Thraen I .
"Are we there yet?" Ten persistent hazards and inefficiencies with the use of medication administration technology from the perspective of practicing nurses.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2023 Apr 19; 30(5):809-18. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocad031..
Keywords: Medication, Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Health Information Technology (HIT), Patient Safety, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Medical Errors, Medication: Safety
Grauer A, Rosen A, Applebaum JR
Examining medication ordering errors using AHRQ network of patient safety databases.
Research on the impact of Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) systems on drug order inaccuracies has shown inconsistent results, with CPOE not reliably preventing such mistakes. The study utilized the Network of Patient Safety Databases (NPSD) from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to explore the frequency and degree of harm associated with reported events during the ordering stage, and to classify them by error type.
The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of reported safety incidents provided by healthcare systems associated with patient safety organizations from June 2010 to December 2020. All errors related to medication and other substance orders reported to the NPSD using the common format v1.2 during this period were assessed. The researchers grouped and categorized the prevalence of reported medication order errors by error type, harm levels, and demographic data. The study found that during the study period, 12,830 mistakes were reported. Incorrect dosage accounted for 3,812 errors (29.7%), followed by incorrect medicine 2,086 (16.3%), and incorrect duration 765 (6.0%). Out of 5,282 incidents that affected the patient and had a known severity level, 12 resulted in fatalities, 4 led to severe harm, 45 caused moderate harm, 341 led to minor harm, and 4,880 resulted in no harm. The study concluded that the most frequently reported and damaging types of medication order errors were incorrect dose and incorrect medication orders.
The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of reported safety incidents provided by healthcare systems associated with patient safety organizations from June 2010 to December 2020. All errors related to medication and other substance orders reported to the NPSD using the common format v1.2 during this period were assessed. The researchers grouped and categorized the prevalence of reported medication order errors by error type, harm levels, and demographic data. The study found that during the study period, 12,830 mistakes were reported. Incorrect dosage accounted for 3,812 errors (29.7%), followed by incorrect medicine 2,086 (16.3%), and incorrect duration 765 (6.0%). Out of 5,282 incidents that affected the patient and had a known severity level, 12 resulted in fatalities, 4 led to severe harm, 45 caused moderate harm, 341 led to minor harm, and 4,880 resulted in no harm. The study concluded that the most frequently reported and damaging types of medication order errors were incorrect dose and incorrect medication orders.
AHRQ-funded; HS026121.
Citation: Grauer A, Rosen A, Applebaum JR .
Examining medication ordering errors using AHRQ network of patient safety databases.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2023 Apr 19; 30(5):838-45. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocad007..
Keywords: Medication, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Health Information Technology (HIT), Medication: Safety
Pitts SI, Yang Y, Thomas B
Discontinuation of outpatient medications: implications for electronic messaging to pharmacies using CancelRx.
This study aimed to describe the proportion of discontinued outpatient medications that would result in a prescription discontinuation, or CancelRx message to understand its impact on medication safety. The authors used a data report to identify all outpatient medications discontinued in the electronic health record (EHR) of an academic health system in 1 month (October 2018). A total of 63,485 medications were discontinued, with 36.4% e-prescribed, 40.9% patient-reported or reconciled, and the remainder prescribed nonelectronically. Discontinued high-risk medications were more likely to be e-prescribed (47%). A discontinuation reason was specified in 58.9% of all discontinued medications. Approximately one-third to one-half of discontinued medications were e-prescribed within the same EHR that would result in a CancelRx message to the pharmacy. Extension of this functionality to reconciled medications in the EHR could significantly expand the impact of CancelRx on medication safety.
AHRQ-funded.
Citation: Pitts SI, Yang Y, Thomas B .
Discontinuation of outpatient medications: implications for electronic messaging to pharmacies using CancelRx.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2022 Nov 14;29(12):2101-04. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocac181..
Keywords: Medication, Provider: Pharmacist, Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Oke I, Badami A, Kosteva KL
Systemic barriers in receiving electronically prescribed glaucoma medications.
The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to quantify glaucoma medication treatment interruptions attributable to electronically prescribed medications and recommend interventions to reduce this barrier. The researchers reviewed Glaucoma medication refill requests received over a 6-week interval, and then contacted patient pharmacies 1 month after the request date to determine whether the medication was picked up by the patient. Patients who did not pick up the prescriptions were contacted and consented to participate in a survey to identify the barriers to getting the medications. The study found that a prior authorization requirement was significantly associated with patients not obtaining their medication, as well as insurance coverage (32.2%) and availability of the medication at the pharmacy (22.6%). The study concluded that due to the need for prior authorization, insurance coverage, and pharmacy availability, approximately one third of electronically prescribed glaucoma medications were not picked up by patients within one month of the refill request.
AHRQ-funded; HS000063.
Citation: Oke I, Badami A, Kosteva KL .
Systemic barriers in receiving electronically prescribed glaucoma medications.
J Glaucoma 2022 Oct;31(10):812-15. doi: 10.1097/ijg.0000000000002100..
Keywords: Medication, Patient Adherence/Compliance, Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Kandaswamy S, Grimes J, Hoffman D
Free-text computerized provider order entry orders used as workaround for communicating medication information.
The objectives of this study are to identify the most common medication names communicated in free-text CPOE orders and their risk levels, to identify what actions physicians expect that nurses will complete when they place free-text CPOE orders, and to describe differences in these patterns across hospitals. Findings showed that the prevalence of medication information in free-text CPOE orders may suggest specific communication challenges in respect to urgency, uncertainty, planning, and other aspects of communication and clinical needs. Recommendations included understanding and addressing communication challenges around commonly mentioned medication names and actions, especially those that are high risk, in order to help reduce the risk of medication errors.
AHRQ-funded; HS025136; HS024755.
Citation: Kandaswamy S, Grimes J, Hoffman D .
Free-text computerized provider order entry orders used as workaround for communicating medication information.
J Patient Saf 2022 Aug 1;18(5):430-34. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000948..
Keywords: Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Medication, Health Information Technology (HIT)
Adelman JS, Applebaum JR, Southern WN
Risk of wrong-patient orders among multiple vs singleton births in the neonatal intensive care units of 2 integrated health care systems.
Researchers assessed the risk of wrong-patient orders among multiple-birth infants and singletons receiving care in the NICU and examined the proportion of wrong-patient orders between multiple-birth infants and siblings (intrafamilial errors) and between multiple-birth infants and nonsiblings (extrafamilial errors). They found that multiple-birth status in the NICU is associated with significantly increased risk of wrong-patient orders compared with singleton-birth status. Strategies to reduce this risk include using given names at birth, changing from temporary to given names when available, and encouraging parents to select names for multiple births before they are born when acceptable to families.
AHRQ-funded; HS024538.
Citation: Adelman JS, Applebaum JR, Southern WN .
Risk of wrong-patient orders among multiple vs singleton births in the neonatal intensive care units of 2 integrated health care systems.
JAMA Pediatr 2019 Oct 10;173(10):979-85. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.2733..
Keywords: Newborns/Infants, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medication: Safety, Medication, Patient Safety, Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Bucher BT, Ferraro JP, Finlayson SRG
Use of computerized provider order entry events for postoperative complication surveillance.
The purpose of this study was to determine if a surveillance system using computerized provider order entry (CPOE) events for selected medications as well as laboratory, microbiologic, and radiologic orders can decrease the manual medical record review burden for surveillance of postoperative complications. Results showed that a CPOE-based surveillance of postoperative complications has high negative predictive value, demonstrating that this approach can augment the currently used, resource-intensive manual medical record review process.
AHRQ-funded; HS025776.
Citation: Bucher BT, Ferraro JP, Finlayson SRG .
Use of computerized provider order entry events for postoperative complication surveillance.
JAMA Surg 2019 Apr;154(4):311-18. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2018.4874..
Keywords: Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Health Information Technology (HIT), Adverse Events, Surgery, Patient Safety
Lindau ST
CommunityRx, an e-prescribing system connecting people to community resources.
CommunityRx is an e-prescribing system that make it easier for patients in communities to connect with health resources. NowPow, LLC is an information technology enterprise that is part of CommunityRx. NowPow participated in AHRQ’s EvidenceNow grants program and worked with hundreds of small Midwestern primary care practices in the Healthy Hearts in the Heartland study. By 2018, over 1600 youths had been employed (many for the first-time) and generated annual asset census for Chicago, New York, and two rural areas of North Carolina. CommunityRx has been successful in providing health resource information to lower-income communities such as Chicago’s South Side. They also found that half of people who received a HealtheRx e-prescription use the information to help others.
AHRQ-funded; HS023921.
Citation: Lindau ST .
CommunityRx, an e-prescribing system connecting people to community resources.
Am J Public Health 2019 Apr;109(4):546-47. doi: 10.2105/ajph.2019.304986..
Keywords: Access to Care, Community-Based Practice, Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Evidence-Based Practice, Health Information Technology (HIT), Medication, Vulnerable Populations
Garabedian PM, Wright A, Newbury I
Comparison of a prototype for indications-based prescribing with 2 commercial prescribing systems.
The objective of this study was to evaluate, in comparison with the prescribing modules of 2 leading electronic health record prescribing systems, the efficiency, error rate, and satisfaction with a new computerized provider order entry prototype for the outpatient setting that allows clinicians to initiate prescribing using the indication. The investigators found that reengineering prescribing to start with the drug indication allowed indications to be captured in an easy and useful way, which may be associated with saved time and effort, reduced medication errors, and increased clinician satisfaction.
AHRQ-funded; HS023694.
Citation: Garabedian PM, Wright A, Newbury I .
Comparison of a prototype for indications-based prescribing with 2 commercial prescribing systems.
JAMA Netw Open 2019 Mar;2(3):e191514. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.1514..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Health Information Technology (HIT), Medication