LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Community pharmacies that used scan-verification and counting technology prevented an average of 2.7 potential prescription errors per week, according to a national study by Kirby Lester.

Kirby Lester KL1Plus scan-verification and counting device

The pharmacy automation technology provider said Tuesday that 75% of pharmacies in the study reported a significant rise in their staff’s awareness of the potential for dispensing errors after using technology to fill scripts, rather than traditional manual methods. Errors included incorrect medication, strength or intended quantity for a patient’s prescription.

“This research confirmed that mistakes can and will happen in pharmacies nationwide, and a simple way to reduce the potential of a dispensing error is via scan-verification,” stated Garry Zage, president of Kirby Lester.

Research participants used the Kirby Lester KL1Plus, a combination scan-verification and counting device for dispensing medications. The KL1Plus matches NDC and prescription information to make the pharmacy technician to choose and count the right drug, strength and quantity, according to Kirby Lester.

Pharmacies in the study used the Kirby Lester KL1Plus device for a 10-day period and recorded every instance that the KL1Plus device alerted the technician that an error was about to be committed. The most common error caught by the KL1Plus was wrong drug (46%), followed by incorrect quantity (29%) and improper medication strength (25%).

Seventy-two percent of pharmacy managers/owners reported that their technicians’ awareness of the potential for medication errors significantly increased after participating in the study. Just 57% of pharmacy managers/owners were aware that dispensing technology with scan-verification was available, Kirby Lester noted.

On a five-point scale, participating pharmacies rated the importance of scan-verification during technician filling as 4.5 after taking part in the study.

 “I cannot see any reason why a pharmacy would prefer to have technicians filling prescriptions without this protection,” Zage added.

Pharmacies participating in the study, from a geographically diverse sample, averaged 1,156 prescriptions per week. Fifty-four percent used counting technology such as a robot or tablet counter, and 77% didn’t previously use any scan-verification technology during technician filling (such as through their pharmacy management system).

Nihar Mandavia, owner of The Druggist Pharmacy in Laguna Niguel, Calif., one of the study’s participants, has since adjusted his pharmacy’s workflow and strengthened safeguards.

“Before we started the study, our staff was generally aware that errors can happen. But unless something significant happened, it didn’t impact them directly,” according to Mandavia. “Using this technology, they got direct and immediate feedback that a mistake occurred before they moved on. I’m glad we participated in this research.”