Are verbal orders a threat to patient safety?
BACKGROUND
The use of verbal orders has been identified as a potential contributor to poor quality and less safe care. As a result, many organisations have encouraged changing the verbal orders process and/or reducing/eliminating verbal orders altogether (Joint Commission (2005), Institute of Medicine (2001), Leapfrog organisation, Institute of Safe Medication Practices). Ironically there is a paucity of research evidence to support the widespread concern over verbal order.


OBJECTIVE
This paper describes the very limited existing research on verbal orders, presents a model of verbal order use identifying potential error trigger points and suggests a verbal order research agenda in order to better understand the nature and extent of the potential patient care safety threat posed by verbal orders.
Wakefield
D S
DS
Department of Health Management and Informatics, University of Missouri Center for Health Care Quality, Columbia, Missouri 65212, USA. wakefielddo@health.missouri.edu
Wakefield
B J
BJ
D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008499:Medical Records / Q000592:standards*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012449:Safety; D013060:Speech