Trends and Types of Medical Errors Reporting Following the Implementation of Electronic Health Record System

Ashraf A’aqoulah,1,2 Malak Alqahtani,1,3 Dalal F Bin Dayel,3 Bandar Zarbah,3 Farah Kalmey,2,4 Ghassan Shattat,2,5 Raghib Abusaris2,6 1Health Systems Management Department, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Pharmacy Department, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of English Language, College of Science and Health Professions, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Basic Sciences, College of Science and Health Professions, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 6Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Ashraf A’aqoulah, Email [email protected]: Constant supervision is required in a hospital setting because medication errors are a common occurrence and can be potentially harmful to patients.Objective: To examine patterns in medication error rates, types, and departmental distributions at tertiary hospitals from 2013 to 2023.Methods: In this cross-sectional research, the internal hospital medication error database was utilized, collecting data on dosage errors which included Wrong Dose, Drug Omission, Timing Error, and the departments assignment of errors include ICU, General Ward, Pharmacy, Emergency Department for a continuous duration of 11 years.Results: The reports for medication errors at tertiary hospitals for the years 2013– 2023 altogether displayed fairly consistent behavior. Maximum error count was in the year 2019 with 6108 errors while the minimum was in the year 2015 with errors summing up to 725. The results showed fallen in medication errors to 1279 errors by 2023. Important types of errors were wrong/unclear dose prescriptions that used to peak in 2019 with 1307 and also duplication of medication errors increased with 297 additional errors between 2013 to 2023. The changes between types of errors made (χ2 = 1297.75, p-value < 0.001), hospital centers (χ2 = 1668.97, p-value < 0.001) and sections of the hospital in which they were carried out (χ2 = 3086.19, p-value < 0.001) proved vital through chi-square tests done and thus showcasing the shifting control of medication error detection and reporting brought by electronic health record (EHRs) system and training.Conclusion: Medication errors showed variability with peaks, troughs, and fluctuations, demonstrating the inter-year coping mechanisms of EHRs system and personnel. Decision makers need to improve the system alongside staff education and some focused departmental attention. Although there has been some improvement in reporting errors, reporting new emerging errors, such as duplication of procedures, necessitates further vigilance in the dispensation of services to patients.Keywords: medication errors, medical error reports, electronic health records, hospital databases, medical error trends