Republished error management: Paediatric dosing errors before and after electronic prescribing

Objective To compare the incidence and severity rating of dose prescribing errors before and after the implementation of a commercially available electronic prescribing system at a tertiary care children's hospital. Methods Dose errors were identified using prescription review to detect errors. Severity rating was determined by five judges using a validated, reliable scoring tool. The mean score for each error was used as an index of severity. Results Dose prescribing errors occurred in 88 of the 3939 (2.2%) items prescribed for outpatients and inpatients, and on discharge prescriptions prior to the implementation of electronic prescribing (EP). After EP, there were 57 dose errors in 4784 (1.2%) items prescribed (1% absolute reduction (p