Pharmacist-led, prescription intervention system-assisted feedback to reduce prescribing errors: A retrospective study

What is known and objective Prescribing errors are prevalent in hospital settings, with provision of feedback recommended to support prescribing by doctors. To evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-led prescription intervention system on prescribing error rates and to measure intervention efficiency. Methods All prescribers in Shandong Provincial Third Hospital received feedback from ward pharmacists using a pharmacist-led prescription intervention system. The prescribing error rate was calculated from Oct 2019 to December 2020. After the intervention was applied, the rates of PASS 1 (System pass), PASS 2 (Pharmacist pass) and PASS 3 (Pharmacist-doctor pass) events and the feedback time were calculated each month. Results and discussion Irrational use of drugs was reduced and the prescription rate increased significantly. The error rate reduced from 6.94% to 1.96%, representing an estimated 71.76% decrease overall (p < 0.05). The PASS 1 rate gradually increased from 88% to 96% (p < 0.05), the PASS 2 rate gradually decreased from 5.06% to 2.04% (p < 0.05), the PASS 3 rate gradually decreased from 6.94% to 1.96% (p < 0.05). What is new and conclusion The pharmacist-led prescription intervention system has the potential to reduce prescribing errors and improve prescribing outcomes and patient safety.