Purdue Research Team To Conduct Medication Errors Study
27 Jul 2007
A research team from Purdue University College of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences has been selected to conduct the "Study of Systems-based Medication Errors in the Outpatient Setting," commissioned by the American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA), the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), and U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP).
Chosen by a six-member advisory group representing the sponsoring organizations, the Purdue research team is headed by Drs. Michael T. Rupp and Holly Mason.
In announcing the advisory group's selection, Chairman William Heller, Ph.D., noted the importance of the medication errors study and the far-reaching implications of its findings. "Each of the participating sponsors," he said, "brings a different perspective on how the data can be used to devise and promote systems that will prevent errors in the future.
"Consequently, this study could save patients untold misery and the U.S. health care system billions of dollars. Integrating new technologies and systems into health care practices will help relieve the specter of errors that confronts pharmacists and others in the health care system."
Through survey and direct observation techniques, the study will seek to identify the contributory role of the environment, counseling, dispensing, staffing, work load, and prescription filling procedures related to medication errors occurring in the ambulatory pharmacy setting.
The Purdue research team was chosen from among applicants around the country who submitted proposals offering diverse approaches to the study. Respondents were asked to examine the physical layout and systems in the pharmacy, the volume of prescriptions received and handled, the characteristics of actual prescriptions filled, and staffing responsibilities. The researchers will gather data from states in four different regions of the United States.
The advisory group included Chairman Heller and Linda Tyler, Pharm.D., appointed by USP; Benjamin Gruda, R.Ph., and Daniel Malone, Ph.D., appointed by APhA; Jerry Moore, R.Ph., and John D. Taylor, R.Ph., appointed by NABP.
The study is expected to be completed within 10 months once funding is secured.
