Selecting the wrong drug is the most common dispensing error. To reduce these sort of errors many states in Australia have legislated to ensure bar code scanning of dispensed medications.
It is reported that 11% of medication errors in hospitals occur during the dispensing phase of the medication use process. Statistics indicate that the majority of dispensing errors involve selection of the incorrect strength of a medicine or selection of the incorrect product. In an effort to reduce dispensing errors the Pharmacy Board of South Australia has mandated that pharmacies and pharmacy departments in South Australia must employ bar code scanning technology as part of the dispensing process from July 2009.
This E-Bulletin tells of the changes made at the Pharmacy department, Repatriation General Hospital in Adelaide to accommodate this legislative requirement.
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