Risk factors for medication errors in the electronic and manual prescription.

OBJECTIVE: to compare electronic and manual prescriptions of a public hospital of Brasilia, identifying risk factors for the occurrence of medication errors.

METHOD: descriptive-exploratory, comparative and retrospective study. Data collection occurred from July 2012 to January 2013, using an instrument for the review of the information contained in medical records related to the medication process. A total of 190 manual and 199 electronic records composed the sample, with 2027 prescriptions each.

RESULTS: compared to the manual prescription, a significant reduction was observed in the risk factors after implantation of the electronic prescription, in items such as "lack of the form of dilution" (71.1% to 22.3%) and "prescription with brand name" (99.5% to 31.5%). Conversely, the risk factors "no check" and "lack of CRM of the prescriber" increased. The lack of the allergy registration and the occurrences related to medication were the same for both groups.

CONCLUSION: generally, the use of the electronic prescription system was associated with a significant reduction in risk factors for medication errors, concerning the following aspects: illegibility, prescription with brand name and presence of essential items that provide a safe and effective prescription.