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Biomedical subjects

Wm Claiborne Dunagan

Publications and source records attributed to Wm Claiborne Dunagan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Monitoring pharmacy expert system performance using statistical process control methodology.

Automated expert systems provide a reliable and effective way to improve patient safety in a hospital environment. Their ability to analyze large amounts of data without fatigue is a decided advantage over clinicians who perform the same tasks. As dependence on expert systems increase and the systems become more complex, it is important to closely monitor their performance. Failure to generate alerts can jeopardize the health and safety of patients, while generating excessive false positive alerts can lead to valid alerts being dismissed as noise. In this study, statistical process control charts were used to monitor an expert system, and the strengths and weaknesses of this technology are presented.

Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems↗

Validation of automated event triggers using laboratory values related to two problem-prone drugs.

We used computerized alerts to identify patients with laboratory values that could be related to medication errors associated with digoxin and warfarin. Over a six-week period at two inpatient facilities, we generated 62 laboratory-based alerts for warfarin, and 66 for digoxin. The positive predictive value for these alerts representing a preventable event was 71% and 57% for warfarin and digoxin, respectively.

Anticoagulants↗