Software Alerts Pharmacists to 3 Million Potential Medication Errors

Baxter’s DoseEdge Pharmacy Workflow Manager has detected more than 3 million potential medication preparation errors prior to drugs being administered to patients.

DoseEdge integrates with hardware used in medication preparation—including barcode scanners, cameras, and gravimetric devices that measure final dose weight—to automate the process of routing, inspecting, tracking, and reporting on intravenous (IV) and oral liquid medication doses. Pharmacists can conduct preproduction checks to help identify common medication preparation errors.

DoseEdge has processed a total of 72 million medication doses since its introduction in 2008. Almost 40% of the errors that the workflow software has intercepted since then have been linked to incorrect drug use.

“DoseEdge is an example of Baxter’s commitment to the pharmacy and is designed to help pharmacists verify that every dose of medication they prepare is delivered in a timely, accurate and efficient manner,” said Philip Rackliffe, Global Franchise Head of Integrated Pharmacy Solutions at Baxter, in a press release. “…When life-saving and sustaining medicines are prepared in the pharmacy, delivered, and administered at the hospital bedside, Baxter is there.”

The workflow system isn’t intended to replace the knowledge, judgement, or expertise of pharmacists or pharmacy technicians in the preparation of IV admixtures or oral liquid doses.

Injectable medications administered in the United States are associated with an estimated 1.2 million preventable adverse drug events each year, resulting in an estimated $2.7 billion to $5.1 billion in additional health care costs. Some of these errors originate in the hospital pharmacy clean room during medication compounding, and such compounding errors have led to patient deaths.