title: Medication error reporting by community pharmacists in Vermont.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To document community pharmacists' awareness and use of the United States Pharmacopeia Medication Errors Reporting (USP MER) program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Telephone survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community pharmacies in Vermont.
  
  
  METHODS
  One self-identified community pharmacist from each community pharmacy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Each operating community pharmacy in Vermont was contacted by telephone between June 2002 and February 2003. The first individual to self-identify himself or herself as a pharmacist was asked to participate. The telephone surveys were conducted using a standard script.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey responses to questions about awareness and use of USP MER.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A pharmacist was contacted in 98% (122/124) of all operating community pharmacies in Vermont. Nine (7%) pharmacists refused to participate, leaving 113 pharmacists who responded to the survey. Although more than one half of all respondents (70/113; 62%) had heard of USP MER, less than one quarter (24/113; 21%) had ever submitted a report. Significantly more pharmacists employed by independent pharmacies had submitted a report, compared with pharmacists from other pharmacy types (chain, supermarket, mass merchandiser; P = .03). Submitting reports through a corporate hierarchy or to a corporate program was the reason most frequently cited by pharmacists for not submitting reports directly to USP MER (37%). Whether corporate reports were forwarded to USP MER is unknown.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of Vermont community pharmacists were aware of USP MER. However, use was low. Barriers to reporting to a common system such as USP MER may differ depending on pharmacy type. Further research to document the barriers to submitting reports is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, 371 Pearl Street, Burlington, VT 05401, USA. amanda.kennedy@vtmednet.org
authors.forename: Amanda G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Littenberg
mesh_terms: D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D004994:Ethics, Pharmacy; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000639:trends; D010602:Pharmacopoeias as Topic; D013997:Time Factors; D014707:Vermont