A cluster randomized trial evaluating electronic prescribing in an ambulatory care setting

Merrick F Zwarenstein, Katie N Dainty, Sherman Quan, Alex Kiss, Neill KJ Adhikari

Medication errors, adverse drug events and potential adverse drug events are common and serious in terms of the harms and costs that they impose on the health system and those who use it. Errors resulting in preventable adverse drug events have been shown to occur most often at the stages of ordering and administration. This paper describes the protocol for a pragmatic trial of electronic prescribing to reduce prescription error. The trial was designed to overcome the limitations associated with traditional study design.