title: A novel system of prescribing feedback to reduce errors: A pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prescribing errors are one of the most common adverse events in healthcare. Previous research in patient safety has highlighted the importance of error awareness education to enhance professional attitudes and reduce errors. Systems of contemporaneous prescribing feedback previous researched are limited by shift working.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We introduced a departmental prescribing feedback system to address this limitation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a Before and After study design. The setting was a single inpatient paediatric unit and 26 Paediatric medical staff participated. Baseline assessment of prescribing errors and safety attitudes took place, followed by 3 weekly reassessments over a 3 month period. After each assessment, a feedback poster was displayed and emailed to staff, giving general and anonymous personalised feedback.
  
  
  RESULTS
  205 medication orders representing 3,280 opportunities for error were examined. There was a statistically significant reduction in the error rate (P < 0.0001) between baseline (8.8%, 69 out of 784 possibilities for error) and completion at 3 months (1.8%, 12 out of 656 possibilities for error). There was an improvement in patient safety attitudes, but this was not statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This pilot project has demonstrated an error feedback system can reduce errors. This technique could be easily adopted and introduced, warranting further research.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Salford, Salford, UK. morris@betterprescribing.com
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Bratati
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bose-Haider
mesh_terms: D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects