Prescription For Disaster: One-Third of Consumers Experience Prescription Errors,...

Prescription For Disaster: One-Third of Consumers Experience Prescription
Errors, New Survey Finds
More People Taking More Meds, Fewer Pharmacists

DURHAM, N.C., April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- One-third of America's 225 million
prescription-takers now report experiencing a prescription error or knowing
someone who has, according to the just-released "Parata Prescription Safety
2008" national consumer survey, available along with valuable consumer
prescription safety information at http://www.myprescriptionsafety.org.
Pharmacies That Automate Will Soon Dominate
More than half of American adults take at least one prescription daily;
yet, increased prescription use has not been accompanied by increased consumer
vigilance.
Consumers readily admit to choosing their pharmacies for speed and
convenience, rather than for safe prescription practices, "Parata Prescription
Safety 2008" reported. "Proximity to work or home" was cited as the number-one
reason for choosing a pharmacy by half of survey respondents, followed by
"pricing" at 23 percent. Interestingly, a pharmacy's use of "automated
dispensing equipment," a proven strategy for reducing prescription errors,
ranked last in importance, cited by just 2 percent of respondents.
"Today's environment is a prescription for disaster: too few pharmacists,
too many prescriptions and a lack of awareness among consumers about their
role in ensuring prescription safety," said Ken Farbstein, a medication safety
expert and managing principal of Boston-based Melior Consulting.
A Life-Saving Question No One is Asking
"It's a simple and potentially life-saving question every pharmacy
customer should be asking: 'Does this pharmacy use automation technology?'"
Farbstein said. "Every pharmacy should be evaluating technology as part of
their strategy to reduce errors. Automation processes prescriptions more
accurately and at faster speeds, freeing pharmacists and technicians to focus
on answering questions and providing the patient care that is key to solving
the emerging prescription error crisis."
Consumers decisively ranked pharmacists (49 percent) over doctors (15
percent) as principally responsible for ensuring their prescriptions are
accurate, the survey found. While 91 percent of consumers asked could name the
doctors who wrote their last prescriptions, only 36 percent could name the
pharmacists who filled them.
Further, the vast majority of prescription-takers (80 percent) spend less
than two minutes speaking to their pharmacists when they pick up their
medications, and almost half (45 percent) don't talk to them at all.
More and More People ...
As Americans age in good health, supported by the latest medication
innovations, and the country prepares to sustain a generation of aging Baby
Boomers, the number of people taking multiple prescriptions will only
increase. The estimated number of prescriptions filled in the United States
exceeded 4 billion in 2007, compared to 2.6 billion just 10 years ago, and is
still on the rise.
"People think nothing of waiting an hour to spend 10 minutes with their
doctors, while at the pharmacy their focus is on speed. Yet, spending that
same 10 minutes with their pharmacists can literally save lives," said Tom
Rhoads, executive vice president of Parata Systems, makers of automated
dispensing systems and other safety technology solutions for pharmacies.
"Technology is the best way to move pharmacists from behind the counter to
spend more time with their patients, while ensuring the accuracy of the
prescriptions being dispensed."
Taking More and More Medications ...
Hundreds of new drugs submitted to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
each year go to market within 24 hours of approval. In a 2008 report, the
United States Pharmacopeia found 3,170 pairs of drugs that look alike or have
similar, easily confused names. According to the Institute of Medicine, an
estimated 1.5 million people are sickened, injured or die annually as a result
of medication errors, and 88 percent of medication errors result from the
wrong drug or dose.
... With Fewer Pharmacists to Fill Them
Pharmacy Manpower Project in 2001 predicted a national shortage of 157,000
pharmacists by 2020. Pharmacy school applications and graduation rates are
declining while retirements from pharmacy careers are on the rise.
About Parata Systems
Durham, N.C.-based Parata Systems, LLC, was founded in 2001, and offers
industry-leading technology that improves consumer safety and convenience at
the key touch points in the circle of pharmacy care: fill, serve and adhere.
Parata(TM) RDS (Robotic Dispensing System) dispenses prescriptions with 100
percent accuracy for drug and dose; Parata APM(TM) expands convenience, safety
and privacy with self-service prescription pickup; and onePAC(TM) packaging
improves patient safety by promoting adherence with customized, convenience
packaging for medications. To learn more call, click or visit Parata Systems,
http://www.parata.com, info@parata.com, 1-888-PARATA1 (727-2821).
SOURCE Parata Systems

Bridget McNie, for Parata Systems, +1-412-224-6006, +1-412-953-9114 (cell),
bridgetm@jackhorner.com; Nanette Kirsch, Parata Systems, +1-919-433-4363,
+1-724-316-5486 (cell), nkirsch@parata.com