Frequency and preventability of adverse drug events in the outpatient setting.

Adverse drug events (ADEs) remain a persistent patient safety challenge. This retrospective analysis of 3,323 patients treated in outpatient settings in 2018 found that 5% experienced an ADE. Most ADEs involved cardiovascular, central nervous system, or anti-infective medications. The researchers concluded that 22% of these ADEs were likely preventable through strategies such as improved education, training, communication, and monitoring or the use of clinical decision support tools or alerts.