Patient Safety of Perioperative Medication Through the Lens of Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

Perioperative medication has made significant contributions to enhancing patient safety. Nevertheless, administering medication during this period still poses considerable safety concerns, with many errors being detected only after causing significant physiological disturbances. The intricacy of medication administration in the perioperative setting poses specific challenges to patient safety. To address these challenges, implementing potential strategies and interventions is critical. One such strategy is raising awareness and revising educational curricula regarding drug safety in the operating room. Another crucial strategy is recognizing the importance of redundancy and multiple checks in the operating room as a hallmark of medication safety, which is not a common practice. Digital health technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) also offer the potential to improve perioperative medication safety. Computerized physician order entry systems, electronic medication administration records, and barcode medication administration systems have been proven to reduce medication errors and improve patient safety. By implementing these strategies and interventions, health care professionals can enhance the safety of perioperative medication administration and improve patient outcomes.

Keywords: anesthesiology; digital health; health information technology; human factors; medication errors; patient safety; perioperative medicine.