Editing Medical error (section)

=== Historically ===
As far back as the 1930s, pharmacists worked with physicians to select, from many options, the safest and most effective drugs available for use in hospitals.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Pease E |year=1936 |title=Minimum standards for a hospital pharmacy |journal=Bull Am Coll Surg |volume=21 |pages=34–35}}</ref> The process is known as the Formulary System and the list of drugs is known as the Formulary. In the 1960s, hospitals implemented [[Dosage form|unit dose]] packaging and unit dose drug distribution systems to reduce the risk of wrong drug and wrong dose errors in hospitalized patients;<ref>{{cite book |author=Garrison TJ |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofinstit00smit |title=IV.1 Medication Distribution Systems |date=1979  |publisher=Williams and Wilkins |isbn=978-0-683-07884-8 |editor1=Smith MC |editor2=Brown TR}}</ref> centralized sterile admixture services were shown to decrease the risks of contaminated and infected intravenous medications;<ref>{{cite book |author1=Woodward WA |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofinstit00smit |title=Chapter IV.3 Developing Intravenous Admixture Systems |author2=Schwartau N |date=1979  |publisher=Williams and Wilkins |isbn=978-0-683-07884-8 |editor1=Smith MC |editor2=Brown TR}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Powell MF |title=Chapter 53 The Patient Profile System |date=1986 |publisher=Williams and Wilkins |isbn=978-0-683-01090-9 |editor1=Smith MC |edition=2 |editor2=Brown TR}}</ref> and pharmacists provided drug information and clinical decision support directly to physicians to improve the safe and effective use of medications.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Evens RP |title=Chapter 31 Communicating Drug Information |date=1986 |publisher=Williams and Wilkins |isbn=978-0-683-01090-9 |editor1=Smith MC |edition=2 |editor2=Brown TR}}</ref> Pharmacists are recognized experts in medication safety and have made many contributions that reduce error and improve patient care over the last 50 years. More recently, governments have attempted to address issues like patient-pharmacist communication and consumer knowledge through measures like the [[Australian Government]]'s [[Quality Use of Medicines]] policy.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}