Abstract:
Medication safety is a phenomenon of interest in most
healthcare settings worldwide. Failure Mode and Effect
Analysis (FMEA) is a prospective method to identify
failures. We systematically reviewed the application of
FMEA in improving medication safety in the medication
use process. Electronic databases were searched using
keywords ((failure mode and effect analysis) AND
(pharmacy OR hospital)). Articles that fulfilled
prespecified inclusion criteria were selected and were
then screened independently by two researchers. Studies
fulfilling the inclusion criteria and cited in articles selected
for the study were also included. Selected articles were
then analysed according to specified objectives. Among
27€706 articles obtained initially, only 29 matched the
inclusion criteria. After adding four cited articles, a total of
33 articles were analysed. FMEA was used to analyse
both existing systems and new policies before
implementing. All participants of FMEA reported that this
process was an effective group activity to identify errors in
the system, although time-consuming and subjective.
