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Audit highlights medical errors at state hospitals
Posted: Jun 7, 2011 5:15 PM by David Ortiviz
The state auditor says the Colorado Mental Health Institutes at Pueblo and Fort Logan need to do a better job of monitoring psychiatric medicines.
The audit shows there was a high number of medical errors at the facilities, in fact, nearly five errors out of every one hundred medical cases. Officials at the State Hospital in Pueblo say those numbers are deceiving. They say errors could include minor mistakes on forms or a patient receiving a late dosage.
"Over 99 percent of the error rate that we note is not resulting in any harm to the patients at all. Not even extra monitoring ordered by the doctors. So in essence we have a very safe medication system," said Teresa Bernal, Interim Superintendent at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo.
The audit also found the State Hospital should update to a full electronic health record system.
The hospital estimates that would cost between one to four million dollars.
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