Wrong patient errors are more likely to occur in the NICU than in other pediatric units, but a system that uses ID reentry and a unique naming protocol reduces the risk of errors in the NICU, according to an analysis of over 850,000 NICU orders. To reach that conclusion, investigators compared NICU orders to more than 3.5 million non-NICU pediatric orders. They found the following:

• 117.2 wrong patient orders per 100,000 were issued in NICUs, compared to 74.9/100,000 wrong orders in non-NICU units.
• When clinicians were required to reenter a patient’s identification before placing an order, there was a 48.7% drop in wrong patient orders.
• When they had to use a distinct naming convention for patients in combination with ID reentry, wrong patient errors dropped by 61.1% from baseline.