It is not uncommon for patients to be on multiple medications such as prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and dietary supplements before being admitted to the hospital. Add these meds to those prescribed during a hospital stay and there is a tremendous opportunity for drug reactions and unintentional errors.

Newberry County Memorial Hospital (NCMH) in Newberry, SC, was mindful of the risk. That is why, starting in 2006, the hospital embarked on a three-pronged effort to reduce medication errors. First was the hospital’s staff and financial commitment to monitoring medications through electronic medical records. The medication administration record went from a paper to electronic record using this advanced system. All nursing staff received extensive training during the transition.

Second, NCMH improved its medication verification process. If a nurse had a concern about a medication order, she was empowered to hold it until the order was clarified. Finally, the hospital received a grant from The Duke Endowment for Bedside Medication Verification technology and equipment. This innovative patient safety technology not only adds another safety measure for medication administration, it allows nursing and other clinical staff to do patient documentation more efficiently at the bedside.

Here’s how it works. Each patient has a bar code on his or her arm band. The staff scans the arm bands and the medication to make sure that all five of the “rights” are in place: RIGHT patient, RIGHT medication, RIGHT dose, RIGHT time and RIGHT route (by mouth, by shot, etc.).

The focused effort paid off dramatically. In one year’s time following these programs — 2006 to 2007 — NCMH reduced medication errors that reach the patient by 27 percent.