Medication Identification Device to Reduce Medication Errors in Nursing Homes: A Controlled Pilot Study.

It was a small pilot in one nursing home. The intervention and control units had different medication administration roles and workflow, so differences may reflect staffing and task assignment rather than the device alone. Data were collected at different times on the two units, which could introduce temporal differences. No RNs administered medications during the observations, so the findings do not describe RN-administered medication passes. The device did not reduce total errors; wrong-time errors were more frequent on the intervention unit and were linked to interruptions and technology issues.

Authors reported personal fees from PerceptiMed, the company that developed the device, during and outside the study; one author has patents issued, and another reported other from PerceptiMed and NewPath Health Solutions.

Do not conclude that IdentRx reduced medication errors overall. The intervention unit had more total errors than the control unit, and the two units differed in staffing and workflow, so the device alone cannot be credited with the fewer wrong-dose, wrong-drug, wrong-route, and no-order errors.