“Too Many Medication Safety Issues in Australia”

Literature Review: Medication Safety in Australia 2013 is the third in a series surveying the available literature and information on medication safety in Australian health care. The first was published in 2002, and the second in 2008. Since the second review was published, the evidence base for medication-related problems and medication safety activities in Australia has expanded considerably.

The 2013 review provides important new information on the:

• Extent and nature of medication errors in Australia;
• Effectiveness of strategies to prevent medication errors.

The review is presented in three parts:

• Part 1: The extent of medication-related problems in Australia
• Part 2: Strategies for improving medication safety in the Australian healthcare setting
• Part 3: Medication safety intervention strategies: the international evidence

Writing in the foreword to the review, Professor Lloyd Sansom states
In the community there is growing evidence for multidisciplinary approaches to improving medication management including collaborative home medicines reviews.
The following statistics from the report also serve to highlight the need for medication management review services in the community:

• 230,000 medication related hospital admissions annually
• An annual cost of medication-related admissions of $1.2billion
• Medication related hospital admissions remains at about 2-3% of all admissions
• 12-80% of hospital discharge summaries contain a discrepancy
• Over 90% of residents in aged care facilities have a medication-related problem, with an average of 3-4 medication related problems
• People who participate in home medicines reviews have between 2.5 to 5 medication-related problems per person identified as part of the review

Read the review here

It is our hope and great desire to reduce these severe statistics in Australia, and internationally with the implementation of Our Pills Talk Medication Safety App.