Evaluation of an Electronic Dosing Calculator to Reduce Pediatric Medication Errors

Introduction. Adverse medication events are a potential source of significant morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients, where dosages frequently rely on weight-based formulas. The most frequent occurrence of medication errors occurs during the ordering phase. Methods. Through a prospective cohort analysis, we followed medication errors through patient safety reports (PSRs) to determine if the use of a medication dosage calculator would reduce the number of PSRs per patient visits. Results. The number of PSRs for medication errors per patient visit occurring due to errors in ordering decreased from 10/28 417 to 1/17 940, a decrease by a factor of 6.31, with a chi(2) value of 4.063, P = .0463. Conclusion. We conclude that the use of an electronic dosing calculator is able to reduce the number of medication errors, thereby reducing the potential for serious pediatric adverse medication events.