Effect of the Implementation of Barcode Technology and an Electronic Medication Administration Record on Adverse Drug Events

Background: Hospitals have attempted to reduce adverse drug events (ADEs) by investing in new technologies, but data regarding their efficacy are lacking.

Objectives: This study evaluates the effects of the implementation of barcode medication administration (BCMA) and electronic medication administration record (eMAR) technology on the profile of ADEs in a hospital setting.

Methods: We conducted a before-and-after study examining the effects of the implementation of BCMA and eMAR technology on the profile of ADEs at a 400-bed academic medical center by using incident reports. We compared reported ADEs in pre- and post-implementation periods of 5 months to determine whether there was a reduction in the rate of ADEs within medication use phases. We further examined the severity of errors and described changes in the distribution of types of errors.

Results: A total of 775 electronic error-reporting system reports were included in this study: 397 (51%) in the pre-implementation period and 378 (49%) in the post-implementation period. The rate of ADEs significantly decreased from 0.26% to 0.20% after implementation of the technology (relative risk [RR], 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.89). The rate of transcription errors decreased from 0.089% to 0.036% (RR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.30-0.54), which was largely attributed to reduction of "wrong time" errors. The rate of administration errors was identical in both groups at 0.017% (RR, 0.98; 95% CI 0.58-1.66). The mean severity level of administration errors significantly decreased from 4.44 to 3.23 (p = .005).

Conclusion: The implementation of eMAR and BCMA technology improved patient safety by decreasing the overall rate of ADEs and the rate of transcription errors. These technologies also reduced the harmful impact to patients caused by administration errors.