Prescription errors and medicined supply problems in community pharmacy practice - preliminary study

• Authors: Natalia Susłowska , Agnieszka E. Zimmermann , Łukasz Balwicki
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Polish legislation has indicated e-prescription as the preferential way of prescribing drugs, the traditional paper form of prescription is still more common. The Polish Pharmaceutical Law Act defines the information that must be included in a prescription. Pharmacists have noted that a large number of paper prescriptions do not contain all the required information. These shortcomings can be classified as prescription errors. According to international literature, prescription errors can be divided into errors of omission and errors of commission, which require the absolute intervention of a pharmacist. The first error type is the situation in which the document lacks important, required information or it is illegible or unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the type and frequency of problems related to the dispensing of paper-based prescriptions. The study included a detailed analysis of formal prescription deficiencies with respect to the place where the prescription was prescribed and the qualifications of the prescriber. 2044 prescriptions were collected in regard to problems and formal errors. This study provided data on the type and frequency of problems related to the dispensing of paper prescriptions. An higher percentage of not dispensed prescriptions was noted in pharmacies where the majority of prescriptions came from hospital emergency departments. The most common problems were related to the lack of a drug in the pharmacy stock and the legibility of the prescription. It was also noted that the higher the percentage of prescriptions issued by dentists, the greater the number of problem situations.

Keywords

EN

pharmaceutical law; Drug Prescription; pharmacies; pateint safety

• Journal: Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica - Drug Research
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 77
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 361-371

Dates

published

2020-04-29

Contributors

author

Natalia Susłowska

author

Agnieszka E. Zimmermann

author

Łukasz Balwicki

Identifiers

DOI

10.32383/appdr/116563