Benefit of targeted, pharmacist-led education for junior doctors in reducing prescription writing errors – a controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Prescribing errors are common and a known cause of adverse patient outcomes. Junior doctors are responsible for the majority of prescribing, and may benefit from educational interventions. Aim: To assess the effect of (1) targeted pharmacist-led feedback and education, and (2) an e-learning prescribing module, on prescription writing error rates by junior doctors in the inpatient medical setting. Methods: We undertook a cluster randomised trial in 2014 involving 16 prescribers in four general medical units of an Australian tertiary hospital. One unit was randomised to prescribing feedback and targeted education by a clinical pharmacist; another unit was randomised to an e-learnin..