Reducing prescribing errors Evidence scan

Medicines can do a lot of good but they also have the potential to cause harm. Medication errors are one of the most common causes of patient harm and prescribing accounts for a large proportion of medication errors. 

This evidence scan examines strategies to reduce prescribing errors and finds that most studies about reducing prescribing errors have been undertaken in hospital. The three most commonly researched approaches are, in order of frequency: computerised tools, training to improve prescribing and expanding professional roles to identify errors.