Improving medication safety for children using electronic health records
Official title: A Systems Engineering Approach to Optimize Pediatric Medication Safety
Funded at Medstar Health Research Institute · NIH-11061208 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This study is working on a new tool to help doctors give the right medicine doses to kids based on their weight, making sure it's easy to use in hospitals and clinics, so that fewer kids get the wrong amount of medicine.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Medstar Health Research Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Hyattsville, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $490,138 |
| NIH project number | 5R18HS029291-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11061208 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for this research are children receiving medication in healthcare settings that utilize electronic health records.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who are not receiving medication or are treated in healthcare settings without electronic health records may not benefit from this research.
What this research studies
This research aims to enhance the safety of pediatric medication prescriptions by developing and testing a tool that identifies dosing errors based on children's weight. The tool will be optimized for use in electronic health records (EHR) and will be implemented across various healthcare organizations to assess its effectiveness. By engaging experts in pediatrics and informatics, the research will ensure that the tool is user-friendly and applicable in diverse healthcare settings. The study will compare medication error rates in organizations that can implement changes based on the tool's feedback versus those that cannot.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could significantly reduce medication errors in pediatric patients, leading to safer treatment outcomes.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has shown that similar approaches to optimizing medication safety in electronic health records can lead to significant improvements in patient outcomes.
Where this research is happening
-
Medstar Health Research Institute
Hyattsville, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kazi, Sadaf — Medstar Health Research Institute
- Study coordinator: Kazi, Sadaf
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.