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Collaboration reduced adverse drug events
Tham E. Pediatrics. 2011;doi:10.1542/peds.2010-3772.
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A collaboration that targeted adverse drug events in children’s hospitals was able to halve adverse drug events, according to a study published online this month.
Eric Tham, MD, of the department of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and colleagues assessed the results of a “change package of interventions,” which stressed the importance of standardized medication ordering and dispensing, and reliable processes to administer medications.
Tham and colleagues noted the change in adverse drug events, opioid-related and otherwise, from the 3-month baseline period during the next year after the intervention’s introduction. There was a 42% decrease in total adverse drug events, a 51% decrease in opioid-related adverse drug events and a 41% decrease in other medication.
The researchers said some study limitations were noted, including a lack of generalizability of their findings, as well as the inability to demonstrate the causality between the intervention and outcomes.
“Implementing different components of the change package, these freestanding pediatric hospitals improved the safety of their patients,” the study researchers concluded. “This collaborative benefited from lessons learned from a previous collaborative, and the lessons learned from this collaborative can, in turn, be spread to other hospitals that care for children to reduce harm to this vulnerable population.”
Disclosure: Glenn S. Takata, MD, MS, one of the study researchers, disclosed owning 100 shares of Pfizer stock and 100 shares of Amgen stock, which he sold at the start of this study.
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