Medication errors associated to notification of drug allergies: Effect of computerized order entry on their prevention

Some adverse drug reactions are due to hypersensitivity reactions. Drug allergy related errors in a handwritten treatment compared with those in an electronic prescribing system, characteristics of reported allergies and economic impact were analyzed. Prospective, observational study was carried out in two phases. 1st Phase (manual prescriptions), errors due to drug allergy were detected when pharmacists registered allergies and then warned the physician. 2nd Phase (electronic prescription) physicians registered allergies and entered treatments in a computerized physician order entry. The program warned avoiding prescription error. 3,682 patients were included. In phase 1, the incidence of prescription errors due to drug allergy was 13.7%, while in phase 2, it was 1.5% (p