Role of pharmacists in reducing antibiotic prescribing errors in an emergency department

Background Clinical pharmacists and clinically trained pharmacists can detect and correct prescribing errors by reviewing physicians' orders. In addition, prescribing errors related to antibiotics occur frequently in emergency departments (EDs). Aim This study evaluated the role of pharmacists in reducing antibiotic prescribing errors in an ED. Methods One clinically trained pharmacist spent 4 h/day in the ED for 30 days. The pharmacist attended the ward rounds and reviewed medical records to identify prescribing errors related to antibiotics, and corrected these errors in consultation with emergency physicians. The types and severity of antibiotic prescribing errors were determined. The corrected errors were also classified. Results Antibiotics had been prescribed for 110 of 267 patients (41.20%). In all, 180 antibiotic prescriptions were identified for 57 patients, of which 78 had prescribing errors. The most common types of errors were incorrect drug selection (48/78; 61.50%) and wrong dose (19/78; 24.40%), and the most common actual severities were Type B (30/78; 38.46%) and Type C (35/78; (44.87%). In addition, 41 of 78 antibiotic prescribing errors were accepted as errors by emergency physicians. The corrected prescribing errors were categorised as two (4.88%) intercepted potential adverse drug events (ADEs), 35 (85.36%) mitigated ADEs and four (9.76%) ameliorated ADEs. Conclusion Pharmacists have a significant role in the identification and correction of antibiotic prescribing errors. In addition, collaboration between physicians and pharmacists can lead to more appropriate antibiotic use in hospitals.