Transfer to Radiology Dept. An Error Hotspot?
The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) just released its latest Medmarx data report titled A Chartbook of 2000-2004 Findings from Intensive Care Units and Radiological Services, basing its conclusions on 40,000+ records reported by 315 medical facilities on a voluntary basis. In its coverage of the study, the Washington Post underlines that many medication errors occur in radiological services especially when patients are transferred there from somewhere else, often because of communication failures. Incorrect dosage was found to be one of the most common errors.
The American College for Radiology quickly shot back this statement, arguing that the UPS study does not put its data into proper perspective because it fails to assess whether its sample is representative of American hospitals at large and it does not benchmark the reported errors in relation to the huge number of imaging procedures performed all year round. According to the ACR radiology is at the end of the day delivering with a very low medication error rate. Moreover, in the USP report all errors linked to cardiac catheterization were filed under radiology while interventional radiology is a growing but still relatively marginal practice. Finally, most radiological procedures happen outside of hospitals so why focus just on inpatients?
ButIf communication procedures and tools can be implemented to reduce mistakes, USP ’s data may help pinpoint where and why medication is not properly prescribed or given.
January 18, 2006 Related topics: Quality, Safety, Errors, Radiology