Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35145001›Full record

Observational studyEuropean journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice2023

Potential costs and consequences associated with medication error at hospital discharge: an expert judgement study.

Grainne Kirwan, Aisling O'Leary, Cathal Walsh, Robert Briggs, Victoria Robinson, Radzi Rodzlan, Patrick Redmond, Tamasine Grimes

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Determining Medication Errors in an Adult Intensive Care Unit.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Grainne KirwanSchool of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Aisling O'LearySchool of Pharmacy, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
Cathal WalshHealth Research Institute and Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
Robert BriggsSchool of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Victoria RobinsonSchool of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Radzi RodzlanPharmacy Department and Medical Directorate, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Patrick RedmondSchool of Population Health & Environmental Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Tamasine GrimesSchool of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland TAGRIMES@tcd.ie.ORCID 0000-0002-7154-3243

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesAssessing the cost-effectiveness of complex pharmaceutical care interventions and medication error outcomes is hindered by lack of available data on actual outcomes consequent to errors that were intercepted for patient safety reasons. Expert judgement is an approach to acquire data regarding unknown parameters in an economic model which are otherwise insufficient or not possible to obtain. The aim of this paper is to describe a method to approach this problem using findings from a single intervention study and to calculate the potential costs and consequences associated with discharge medication error.

methodsUsing data from a previous intervention study, the hypothetical consequences of medication error(s) at hospital discharge, in terms of diagnosis, healthcare resource utilisation and impact on health-related quality of life, were identified by expert judgement of anonymised cases. Primary healthcare utilisation costs were derived from published tariffs, inpatient costs were derived by simulation in the hospital discharge activity database test environment and the difference between adjudicated baseline and posterror health state was expressed as quality-adjusted life year (QALY) decrement.

resultsFour experts provided judgement on 81 cases. Of these, 75 were judged to have potential clinical consequences. Between 56 and 69 of the 81 cases were variably judged to require remedial healthcare utilisation. The mean calculated cost per case (representing an individual patient), based on all 81 cases, was €1009.58, 95% CI 726.64 to 1585.67. The mean QALY loss was 0.03 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.05).

conclusionAn expert judgement process proved feasible and useful to estimate financial cost and QALY loss associated with hospital discharge medication error. These estimates will be employed in model-based economic evaluation. This method could be transferred to other prospective observational patient safety research which seeks to assess value for money of complex interventions.

Indexed as

Patient DischargeQuality of LifeHospitalsHumansJudgmentMedication Errorscost-benefit analysiseconomicshealth care economics and organizationshospitalmedical errorspharmaceuticalpharmacy service

Identifiers

PMID35145001
PMCPMC9986922

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.