Study on effectiveness of Medication Error Reporting System in Hospital Batu Pahat

Medication safety is one of the major components in patient safety but unfortunately medication errors do happen and often and go undetected. One of the mechanisms to identify and monitor this error is by implementing "Medication Error Reporting System (MERS)".
This study was conducted to obtain the effectiveness of MERS in decreasing the probability of medication errors in the future. Data was collected from guideline of MERS prepared by Pharmaceutical Services Division Ministry of Health Malaysia which is available at Pharmacy Department in Hospital Batu Pahat.
Data was collected in retrospective design by using 100 MERS form from June to September 2008 at Pharmacy Department in Hospital Batu Pahat. The MERSs were measured using several parameters such as time, location, type, error outcomes, possible causes and contributing factors, and responsible healthcare provider. Recognizers and recommendations were also studied. All data was analyzing by using SPSS version 17.0. Most of the errors occurred during the peak hours and in inpatient department.