@article {Barton119, author = {L Barton and J Futtermenger and Y Gaddi and A Kang and J Rivers and D Spriggs and Paul F Jenkins and Campbell H Thompson and Josephine S Thomas}, title = {Simple prescribing errors and allergy documentation in medical hospital admissions in Australia and New Zealand}, volume = {12}, number = {2}, pages = {119--123}, year = {2012}, doi = {10.7861/clinmedicine.12-2-119}, publisher = {Royal College of Physicians}, abstract = {This study aimed to quantify and compare the prevalence of simple prescribing errors made by clinicians in the first 24 hours of a general medical patient{\textquoteright}s hospital admission. Four public or private acute care hospitals across Australia and New Zealand each audited 200 patients{\textquoteright} drug charts. Patient demographics, pharmacist review and pre-defined prescribing errors were recorded. At least one simple error was present on the medication charts of 672/715 patients, with a linear relationship between the number of medications prescribed and the number of errors (r=0.571, p\<0.001). The four sites differed significantly in the prevalence of different types of simple prescribing errors. Pharmacists were more likely to review patients aged \>75 years (39.9\% vs 26.0\%; p\<0.001) and those with more than 10 drug prescriptions (39.4\% vs 25.7\%; p\<0.001). Patients reviewed by a pharmacist were less likely to have inadequate documentation of allergies (13.5\% vs 29.4\%, p\<0.001). Simple prescribing errors are common, although their nature differs from site to site. Clinical pharmacists target patients with the most complex health situations, and their involvement leads to improved documentation.}, issn = {1470-2118}, URL = {https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/12/2/119}, eprint = {https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/12/2/119.full.pdf}, journal = {Clinical Medicine} }