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Table 1 Descriptions of level of severity of medication prescription errors

From: Impact of computerized physician order entry on medication prescription errors in the intensive care unit: a controlled cross-sectional trial

Major divisions

Numeric scale

Description (NCC MERP scale)

Minor MPE

0

Incomplete order, no potential to cause harm (A)

Intercepted MPE

0,5

Potential error, intercepted, error did not reach the patient (B)

Serious MPE

  

   N-I potential ADE

1

Error reached the patient, but caused no harm (C)

   ADE

2

Error occurred, resulted in increased patient monitoring, but no harm to the patient (D)

 

3

Error occurred with change in vital signs, increased need of monitoring or laboratory tests, eventually no harm (D)

 

3.5

Error occurred with temporary harm, needing treatment/intervention (E)

 

4

Error occurred with temporary harm, needing treatment with another drug, increased length of stay or required intervention to prevent permanent impairment or damage (F)

 

5

Error occurred and resulted in permanent patient harm (G)

 

5.5

Error occurred and resulted in near death event (H)

 

6

Error occurred and resulted in patient death (I)

  1. MPE, medication prescribing error (an error in the prescribing or monitoring of a drug); for example, an order written for aminoglycosides, without ordering a drug plasma level, or without a route of administration. Minor MPE: minor medication prescription error (an MPE that has no potential to cause harm); for example, an abbreviation or a missing route of administration. Intercepted MPE: an MPE that has the potential to cause patient harm but did not because the error was intercepted in time. N-I Potential ADE: non-intercepted potential ADE. ADE: adverse drug event; these are further specified according to level of severity (level 2 to 6). The N-I potential ADEs and ADEs consist of serious errors because they have the potential to or actually cause injury and, therefore, are the most important from the perspective of patient safety. For this reason, these two groups are joined into one serious MPE group. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) scale is mentioned for comparative purposes.