The American College of Clinical Pharmacy Practice-Based Research Network (ACCP PBRN) is pleased to announce the publication of its first research paper in the March 2013 issue of Pharmacotherapy. The study, titled “Drug Errors and Related Interventions Reported by United States Clinical Pharmacists: The American College of Clinical Pharmacy Practice-Based Research Network Medication Error Detection, Amelioration, and Prevention (MEDAP) Study,” was written by Drs. Grace Kuo (University of California, San Diego), Daniel Touchette (University of Illinois at Chicago), and Jacqueline Marinac (formerly, Director of the ACCP Research Institute) and was supported by the ACCP Frontiers Fund. The study’s objective was to describe and evaluate drug errors and the corresponding clinical pharmacist interventions. The study involved 62 inpatient and outpatient clinical pharmacists who reported 779 medication errors during a 2-week period, amounting to more than one medication error identified per pharmacist per day. Anti-infective, hematologic, and cardiovascular drugs were most frequently associated with drug errors. Prescribing errors were the most common type, resulting in 53% of all medication errors identified. Most (89%) pharmacist recommendations in managing medication errors were accepted by prescribers. Although most of the drug errors did not result in harm, early detection of the error by a clinical pharmacist may have prevented unnecessary morbidity. This study highlights the potential for clinical pharmacists and the PBRN to identify opportunities for documenting and improving the impact of clinical pharmacists on patient care. The full study report is available at http://www.accp.com/docs/positions/research/MEDAP_Drug_Errors.pdf. Two follow-up reports, one describing the feasibility of conducting research within the PBRN and the other evaluating the economic impact of the medication errors, are nearing completion.

The ACCP PBRN would like to thank the 62 clinical pharmacists who participated in the MEDAP Study. A list of the participants may be found at http://www.accpri.org/pbrn/researchProjects.aspx. If you are interested in participating in future studies but are not currently a PBRN member, contact the PBRN at [email protected]. For more information about the PBRN, please visit its Web site at http://www.accpri.org/pbrn.