Mandating barcode scanners has halved the number of medication errors at the point of dispensing, according to the Pharmacy Board of South Australia.
The board's registrar Peter Halstead said since mandatory requirements were introduced in South Australia at the start of July for all pharmacies to use barcode scanners in dispensaries, there had been a dramatic drop in human selection errors.
"Medication errors happen for a number of reasons," Mr Halstead told Pharmacy News.
"Selection errors are one category of those reasons and they are a significant one but there are a number of other ways you can stuff up. But in terms of medication errors, one of the major ones is simply the selection of the wrong product.
"Experience and evidence shows that that particular reason is reduced by 50 per cent. It doesn't reduce all medication errors by 50 per cent. It decreases one category of medication errors by 50 per cent."
Mr Halstead said the policy, which so far is only mandatory in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania, required pharmacists to ensure their staff were properly trained and software systems had the necessary provisions.
"Will it lead to a more IT savvy involvement? That is coming but there are difficulties to introducing those technologies to dispensing," he said.
"The biggest pitfall at the moment revolves around privacy. The Government is spending a lot of money and involving a lot of people federally to try to bring that about. Privacy and security are the big factors and until they are resolved you are not going to see it rolled out more broadly."