Characteristics of medication errors and adverse drug events in hospitals participating in the California Pediatric Patient Safety Initiative.

Purpose: The characteristics of medication errors and adverse drug events (ADEs) in hospitals participating in the California Pediatric Patient Safety Initiative (CaPPSI) were studied to identify opportunities for improvement.

Methods: Data were collected to identify pharmacy intervention medication errors (PIMEs) with significant harm potential and ADEs identified by a validated pediatric trigger method (TADEs) and by voluntary incident reports (VADEs) from November 2003 through April 2004. Electronic trigger identification was used.