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Automated drug dispensing systems can reduce medication dispensing and administration errors.  However, this study found that medication automated dispensing cabinets ADCs)in one hospital frequently contained look-alike, sound-alike (LASA) medications, which may increase the risk for medication error.

Smart pumps are considered a valuable method to improve medication safety. This study used smart pump medication logs and reporting software to identify cancelled infusions and resolutions of infusions alerts to characterize near-miss infusion pump errors. The study identified a high number of lookalike-soundalike near-miss errors. Analyses indicate that incorrect medication and wrong dose selections account for approximately 22% of all cancelled infusions.

Intravenous (IV) medication administration errors can cause severe patient harm. In this systematic review, researchers identified eleven studies characterizing the systemic causes of in-hospital IV medication errors. Systemic errors were identified most frequently during medication administration, prescribing and preparation, with common errors involving knowledge gaps, calculation errors, failure to double-check, and confusion between look-alike, sound-alike medications.  More research focused on IV medication safety is needed.

Look-alike and sound-alike (LASA) drugs are a well-established source of medication errors that place patients at risk for adverse drug events. Prior research has shown that these medications can be automatically identified using diagnostic codes at the time of electronic prescribing. Using electronic health record data on medication orders and diagnostic claims data from a single academic medical center as well as data on medication indications, researchers developed an algorithm to identify LASA prescribing errors. Although the algorithm was able to identify LASA prescribing errors that may not have been found by other means, the positive predictive value was 12.1% and the false-positive rate was greater than 75%. The authors advocate for further research to improve specificity and sensitivity of this approach. A past WebM&M commentary discussed a case involving the mix-up of two medications with similar names.