Journal of patient safety
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Journal of patient safety · Jun 2013
PCA safety data review after clinical decision support and smart pump technology implementation.
Medication errors account for 20% of medical errors in the United States with the largest risk at prescribing and administration. Analgesics or opioids are frequently used medications that can be associated with patient harm when prescribed or administered improperly. In an effort to decrease medication errors, Duke University Hospital implemented clinical decision support via computer provider order entry (CPOE) and "smart pump" technology, 2/2008, with the goal to decrease patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) adverse events. ⋯ This study demonstrated a decrease in PCA events between time periods in both the ADE-S and voluntary report system data, thus supporting the recommendation of clinical decision support via CPOE and PCA smart pump technology.