Committee opinion No. 531: improving medication safety.

Abstract

Despite significant national attention, medical errors continue to pervade the U.S. health care system. Medication-related errors consistently rank at the top of all medical errors, which account for thousands of preventable deaths annually in the United States. There are a variety of methods—ranging from broad-based error reduction strategies to the adoption of sophisticated health information technologies—that can assist obstetrician–gynecologists in minimizing the risk of medication errors. Practicing obstetrician–gynecologists should be familiar with these various approaches that, along with efforts directed at assisting the patient in understanding the medical condition for which a medication is prescribed, can improve the safety and efficacy of medication use.