2012

Pharmacy dispensing of electronically discontinued medications

Study type/ Setting Methods Outcomes Recommendations Source
Retrospective cohort study

Setting: Ambulatory Care

- To assess the frequency of and potential patient harm associated with pharmacy dispensing of discontinued medications in the ambulatory setting within 12 months - 30,406 adult patients with an electronic discontinuation order - A large amount of prescriptions electronically canceled in EHRs were still filled at the pharmacy - Among 83,902 targeted medications that were electronically discontinued, 1,218 were subsequently dispensed by the pharmacy - The dispensing of discontinued medications represents an important ambulatory patient safety concern.  - Better communication between providers and pharmacists is needed to improve medication safety Allen et al. (2012)

 

Link to Full Article

Allen AS, Sequist TD. Pharmacy dispensing of electronically discontinued medications. Ann Intern Med. 2012;157:700-5. [PMID: 23165661]