Pharmacotherapy is the most common therapeutic intervention in healthcare to improve health outcomes of patients. However, there are many instances where prescribed medications resulted in patient morbidity and mortality instead. Medication errors can happen at any step of the medication use process, but a substantial burden of medication-related harm is focused primarily on three priority areas of healthcare delivery: transitions of care, polypharmacy and high-risk situations. This chapter highlights prevalence of issues concerning these three core areas and describes common medication errors as well as risk mitigation strategies to improve service delivery. An appreciation of these inherent risks will enable healthcare providers to navigate the pitfalls better and make efforts to ensure medication safety while providing health services.
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