US Emergency Department Visits for Outpatient Adverse Drug Events, 2013-2014

Abstract

Adverse drug events are the most common cause of iatrogenic harm in health care and have recently received attention in national patient safety initiatives. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 incentivized new programs that target adverse drug event prevention within hospitals and during care transitions between inpatient and outpatient settings. However, in outpatient settings, in which 90% of US prescription drug expenditures occur,¹ preventing adverse drug events remains a public health and patient safety challenge, with efforts often focused on medication errors and reducing potentially inappropriate prescribing for older adults (aged ≥65 years) as defined by the Beers criteria.^2,3 Patients in ambulatory care and some postacute care settings can have complex medication regimens, at times prescribed by multiple clinicians, with far less monitoring compared with hospitalized patients.