Abstract
Background: Perioperative medication errors are recognized as a source of patient morbidity and mortality. Medication management systems with built-in scanning and label-printing functions that integrate with medication-dispensing cabinets have the potential to decrease medication administration errors by improving compliance with medication labeling. Whether these management systems will also improve periodic automatic replacement (PAR) inventory control and be accepted by users is unknown. We hypothesized that implementation of the Codonics Safe Label System(®), an automated labeling system (ALS), would increase compliance with labeling guidelines and improve PAR inventory control by decreasing medication discrepancies while maintaining user acceptability in the OR. Methods: We audited a cohort of anesthesia workstations and electronic anesthesia records for 2 months to compare dispensed and administered medications and establish a discrepancy baseline. We also observed a convenience sample of syringes to evaluate labeling compliance. Post-implementation of the ALS, we repeated the audit. Finally, an anonymous survey was distributed electronically to providers to assess user acceptability. Results: Pre-implementation the average daily medication discrepancy rate was 9.7%, decreasing to 6.1% post-implementation (χ(2) (1) = 43.9; P < .0001). Pre-implementation 330 of 696 syringes (47.4%) were either missing a label or labeling elements. After implementation, 100% of all syringes received a label with the complete required labeling information (P < .0001). All respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the system was easy to use, accurate, met their needs, printed labels quickly, improved safety and efficiency, and was recommendable. Conclusion: The ALS significantly increased the rate of best-practice-compliant medication labeling while reducing medication inventory discrepancies. The system was highly accepted by providers.