International journal of health care quality assurance
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Int J Health Care Qual Assur · Jan 2011
Comparison of medication error rates and clinical effects in three medication prescription-dispensation systems.
Medication errors (MEs) are important in terms of their magnitude and severity, and there are numerous systems in place to reduce their occurrence. However, the ideal system has not yet been identified. The authors' institution uses three different medication prescription-dispensation systems which operate simultaneously. ME rates were compared, overall and by phase (prescription, transcription and administration) and their overall and specific clinical impact. ⋯ It is possible that automated medication dispensation systems reduce error rates and the severity of their effects.
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Int J Health Care Qual Assur · Jan 2010
Developing severity adjusted quality measures for intensive care units.
Intensive care unit performance evaluation is usually affected by variations in the severity of inpatients' health status. This paper aims, therefore, to standardize two performance measures: intensive care unit survival and length of stay using the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) severity of illness score. ⋯ The paper underlines the need to implement a standardized measurement system to evaluate intensive care patient outcomes.
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Int J Health Care Qual Assur · Jan 2010
Referral pathways of patients with gallstones: a potential source of financial waste in the U.K. National Health Service?
Gallstone-related illnesses are one of the most common reasons for emergency hospital admissions, often with serious complications. Standard treatment of uncomplicated gallstone-disease is by laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which can be safely and cost-effectively performed during a short hospital stay or as day-case. This paper aims to evaluate the referral pattern of patients with gallstones, which treatment is given and whether patients admitted as emergency could have benefited from earlier elective referral. The management of these patients is examined in the context of payment by results to determine cost and potential savings. ⋯ A large proportion of patients admitted with symptomatic biliary disease could have been referred earlier and electively. Such referral practice could improve the quality of care and reduce cost for the NHS both in primary and secondary care.
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Healthcare risk epidemiology identifies medication error as the commonest cause of adverse effects on patients. Medication error can occur at any phase of the complex medication process so prevalence rates need to be estimated at each drug treatment phase: prescription, transcription and administration along with their clinical repercussions. This paper aims to investigate this issue. ⋯ The paper highlights ways to reduce errors in the medication process.