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AU MEDS: How it was developed and how it works
AU MEDS, a direct observation based medication error detection and reporting system, was first installed in 1997 in two 500-bed hospitals as the alpha site. Since then, AU MEDS has been recognized as a proven peer review technique that improves medication safety at the patient’s bedside.
AU MEDS, invented by Kenneth Barker, PhD, RPh, and Elizabeth Allan Flynn, PhD, RPh, is based on more than 40 years of research.
MedAccuracy was selected by Auburn University to market AU MEDS under terms of an exclusive worldwide license.
More than 10 hospital systems are now using AU MEDS and some of the largest hospital membership groups in the U.S. are working with MedAccuracy to implement AU MEDS.
A report published in 1999 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) drew national attention to the occurrence, clinical consequences, and cost of adverse drug events (ADEs) in hospitals. Since then, many studies have focused on the breadth and consequences of medication errors.
Research led by Dr. Barker and published September 9, 2002, found that a medication error occurred in nearly one of every five medication doses given in hospitals and skilled-nursing homes. This study involved 36 institutions located in Georgia and Colorado selected at random. Overall, the research found that mistakes were made in 605 of 3,216 doses for an error rate of 19%. Some 7% of the errors were judged to be potential adverse events, meaning that they had the potential to cause injury to a patient.
In
addition to the
potential
for causing physical harm and death, medication errors cost hospitals a
great deal of money every year. According to the 1999 IOM report,
the cost of treating ADEs averaged $4,600 per incident. To put this
into context, the IOM report indicated that a
700-bed teaching hospital would experience
$2.8 million in increased costs due to these events.
Disability and death resulting from medication errors predictably result in significant legal costs. In the year 2000, the median compensation award for medication errors was $668,000 per award. Although catastrophic events that result in large awards grab newspaper headlines, the incremental costs incurred every day in hospitals probably eclipse them.
Extended patient stays, additional treatment and therapy, and additional medications needed to overcome the effect of a medication error together cost more than a catastrophic event.
A notable study published in 1999 Institute of Medicine entitled, "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System" has been hailed as a seminal call to improve patient safety, particularly through more accurate medication administration. AU MEDS is the only commercial system known to the Company that is designed to identify, measure and help hospitals to reduce medication errors at the point of administration, on a real time basis.
AU MEDS has three primary components: (1) a special training program that assists hospitals' employees in detection and classification or errors, (2) proprietary software for data analysis, and (3) on-going quality control support services as designed and implemented by Auburn University.
1 Institute of Medicine, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC; National Academy Press; 1999.
2 Barker, KN, Flynn, EA, Pepper, GA, Bates, DW, Mikeal, RL, Medication Errors Observed in 36 Health Care Facilities. Archives of Internal Medicine, American Medical Association, 2002.3 Institute of Medicine, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC; National Academy Press; 1999.
4 Jury Verdict Research, Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlement and Statistical Analysis, Horsham, PA: LRP Publications, 2002, page 6. 5 Kenninger, T, Reeder, L, The Business Case for Medication Safety, Healthcare Financial Management, February 2003. 6 Institute of Medicine, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC; National Academy Press; 1999.
THE AU MEDS SYSTEM IN OPERATION
Presentation of the AU MEDS System
Click for a copy of
A Brief History of Medication Errors
by Elizabeth Flynn, RPh, PhD
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