Question

You are the HIM director and you are working with the assistant performance improvement director at a 100-bed hospital to analyze a problem with medication errors. Recently, there has been a rise in patient medication errors at your hospital. Identify how you would address implementing measures to improve the high medication error rate using the electronic health record and HIM processes at the hospital. Include how health care providers, the EHR, and HIM practices can help reduce medication errors. Provide detailed narrative notes for each slide of your plan as you will be presenting your plan at the next JC committee meeting.

Answer 1

To mitigate medication errors in a hospital, strengthening the EHR with decision support tools, enhancing HIM practices, providing healthcare provider training, implementing monitoring systems, collaborating multidisciplinary teams, and reviewing policies regularly are key strategies.

Step-by-step explanation:

To address the problem of medication errors in a 100-bed hospital, implementing measures via the electronic health record (EHR) and Health Information Management (HIM) processes is crucial. Developing policies that consider the cost of treatments, patient quality of life, and individual privacy is essential. The following steps can be taken:

1. Review and strengthen the EHR system to provide decision support tools such as medication interaction alerts, dosage calculators, and easy access to patient allergies and current medications.
2. Enhance HIM practices to improve the accuracy of the medication administration record (MAR) by ensuring timely documentation and verification of medications prescribed and administered.
3. Conduct thorough training for healthcare providers on the use of EHR functionalities. This should include best practices for prescribing and administering medication and responding to EHR decision support prompts.
4. Implement monitoring systems within the EHR to track medication errors, allowing for swift identification and analysis of the causes, which can then be addressed through targeted interventions.
5. Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including pharmacists, nurses, and doctors, to create cohesive medication management protocols.
6. Regularly review policies and processes for opportunities to further reduce medication errors and improve patient safety.

The combined efforts of healthcare providers, robust EHR systems, and diligent HIM practices can drastically reduce medication errors and improve overall patient outcomes.