Implementing RFID to Improve Medication Safety

Errors occur at all stages of the medication process, starting with inadequate prescribing decisions, followed by errors of distribution and administration of the drugs, failure to identify the right patient, absence of follow-up and inadequate adherence of the patient. Missing information and failure to communicate appropriate information are also relevant factors that can lead to errors. Medication errors are therefore not simply human errors of the physician, but also a deficiency of the complex medication process. It has been convincingly demonstrated that two types of medication errors are most relevant. The most important are errors of prescribing. 70% of the severe preventable adverse drug events go back to a prescription error. Second most important is failure of patient identification, which is the most dangerous error of distribution. Luckily there are solutions to both problems. Unfortunately these solutions are not widely implemented yet.