Trial reportBMJ open2016
Stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of an electronic medication management system to reduce medication errors, adverse drug events and average length of stay at two paediatric hospitals: a study protocol.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of medication reconciliation for improving transitions of care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Does the accuracy of medication administration documentation improve with electronic medication systems? A stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial.BMJ health & care informatics · 2026Trial
- Harm to Children from Prescribing and Administration Errors in Acute Care: A Multidisciplinary Panel Assessment.Drug safety · 2026Article
- Longitudinal study of the manifestations and mechanisms of technology-related prescribing errors in pediatrics.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2025Article
- How often do parents administer medications to their children in hospital? A prospective direct observational study.BMJ open quality · 2024Observational
- Understanding prescribing errors for system optimisation: the technology-related error mechanism classification.BMJ health & care informatics · 2024Article
- Paediatric medication incident reporting: a multicentre comparison study of medication errors identified at audit, detected by staff and reported to an incident system.BMJ quality & safety · 2024Observational
- Risk Factors Associated with Medication Administration Errors in Children: A Prospective Direct Observational Study of Paediatric Inpatients.Drug safety · 2024Observational
- Article
- Methods for studying medication safety following electronic health record implementation in acute care: a scoping review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2024Article
- Short- and long-term effects of an electronic medication management system on paediatric prescribing errors.NPJ digital medicine · 2022Article
- Harnessing the Electronic Health Record and Computerized Provider Order Entry Data for Resource Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Development of a Decision Tree.JMIR medical informatics · 2021Article
- Associations between double-checking and medication administration errors: a direct observational study of paediatric inpatients.BMJ quality & safety · 2021Observational
- Health information technology as a learning health system: Call for a national monitoring system.Learning health systems · 2020Article
- The safety of computerised prescribing in hospitals.Australian prescriber · 2019Review
- Measuring the financial and productivity burden of paediatric hospitalisation on the wider family network.Journal of paediatrics and child health · 2018Article
- Five Years of Clinical Informatics Board Certification for Physicians in the United States of America.Yearbook of medical informatics · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
24 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMedication errors are the most frequent cause of preventable harm in hospitals. Medication management in paediatric patients is particularly complex and consequently potential for harms are greater than in adults. Electronic medication management (eMM) systems are heralded as a highly effective intervention to reduce adverse drug events (ADEs), yet internationally evidence of their effectiveness in paediatric populations is limited. This study will assess the effectiveness of an eMM system to reduce medication errors, ADEs and length of stay (LOS). The study will also investigate system impact on clinical work processes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial (SWCRCT) will measure changes pre-eMM and post-eMM system implementation in prescribing and medication administration error (MAE) rates, potential and actual ADEs, and average LOS. In stage 1, 8 wards within the first paediatric hospital will be randomised to receive the eMM system 1 week apart. In stage 2, the second paediatric hospital will randomise implementation of a modified eMM and outcomes will be assessed. Prescribing errors will be identified through record reviews, and MAEs through direct observation of nurses and record reviews. Actual and potential severity will be assigned. Outcomes will be assessed at the patient-level using mixed models, taking into account correlation of admissions within wards and multiple admissions for the same patient, with adjustment for potential confounders. Interviews and direct observation of clinicians will investigate the effects of the system on workflow. Data from site 1 will be used to develop improvements in the eMM and implemented at site 2, where the SWCRCT design will be repeated (stage 2). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The research has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network and Macquarie University. Results will be reported through academic journals and seminar and conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) 370325.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.