The Institute of Medicine report on preventing medication errors (released on July 20, 2006) identifies that in hospitals, errors are common during every step of the medication process, and that they occur most frequently during the prescribing and administering stages. It notes: “When all types of errors are taken into account, a hospital patient can expect on average to be subjected to more than one medication error each day.” Two UMass Memorial physicians were on the Institute’s Committee on Identifying and Preventing Medication Errors – Jerry Gurwitz, MD, Chief of Geriatrics, and Edward Westrick, MD, VP of Medical Management. UMass Memorial has taken a leadership role in preventing medication errors and our work garnered both national attention and the Betsy Lehman Patient Safety Recognition Award. The report brief is attached.
