Emergency department drug orders: does drug storage location make a difference?
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2007
Identifier
DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2007.04.014
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVE: We hypothesize that adding drugs previously only available from the hospital central pharmacy to an existing emergency department (ED) automated medication management system would alter the frequency with which they were ordered.
METHODS: A pharmacy database of a large, urban, academic teaching hospital was used to retrospectively calculate changes in drug-ordering frequencies before and after study drugs were added to an ED automated medication management system. Study drugs had been recently added to our ED automated medication management system but were still available from the hospital central pharmacy and were not the subject of changes in hospital prescribing protocols.
RESULTS: Four drug preparations met study criteria: moxifloxacin injection, moxifloxacin tablets, azithromycin injection, and pantoprazole injection. All had large increases (4.0-, 7.2-, 6.5-, and 25.0-fold, respectively) in ordering frequency after addition to the ED automated medication management system. Changes in order frequency strongly correlated with how often orders were filled from the ED automated medication management system rather than the hospital central pharmacy.
CONCLUSION: Adding drug preparations to an existing ED automated medication management system increased the frequency with which they were ordered, especially when they were most reliably obtained from the system rather than the central hospital pharmacy. Adding drugs to an ED automated medication management system influences physician drug ordering.
Journal Title
Annals of emergency medicine
Volume
50
Issue
4
First Page
414
Last Page
418
MeSH Keywords
2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles; Anti-Infective Agents; Anti-Ulcer Agents; Aza Compounds; Azithromycin; Drug Storage; Drug Utilization; Emergency Service, Hospital; Fluoroquinolones; Hospitals, Urban; Humans; Injections; Medical Order Entry Systems; Medication Systems, Hospital; Pharmacies; Quinolines; Retrospective Studies
Keywords
Drugs; Drug storage; Medications; Emergency Departments
Recommended Citation
Conners, G. P., Hays, D. P. Emergency department drug orders: does drug storage location make a difference? Annals of emergency medicine 50, 414-418 (2007).
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