Four-Digit Insulin Dosing Code
A simple solution for insulin dosing error
- Malvinder S. Parmar, MD, FRCPC, FACP12
- 1Northern Ontario School of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Timmins, Ontario, Canada
- 2Timmins and District Hospital, Timmins, Ontario, Canada
- Address correspondence to Malvinder S. Parmar, MD, FRCPC, FACP, Associate Professor, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Assistant Professor (VPT), University of Ottawa, 700 Ross Ave. East, Suite 1, Timmins, ON, Canada P4N 8P2. E-mail: atbeat{at}ntl.sympatico.ca
Medication errors continue to be an issue in health care. The Institute of Medicine’s report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, estimated that medical errors are the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S., with ∼7,000 deaths per year occurring from medication errors (1). Insulin is one of the most frequently cited agents and accounts for 13% of all medication errors (2). Human factors (knowledge or performance deficit, miscalculation or preparation of dosage, transcription errors, fatigue, and computer errors) account for about …
