Medication errors are errors that can harm patients that occur during the treatment
process that can actually be prevented. In identifying medication errors, the failure
mode and effect analysis (FMEA) method appears as an effective instrument for
identifying potential failures and risks. This research is a qualitative study which
aims to apply the FMEA method in identifying medication error incidents at the
prescribing, transcribing and dispensing stages at the Pekalipan District Health
Center, Cirebon City. This research is included in the category of descriptive
observational study with a cross-sectional approach. The sample for this study
was 100 prescriptions taken prospectively. Observations were made on the
prescribing, transcribing and dispensing processes using checklists and FMEA
forms as research instruments. In the analysis of prescription completeness, the
results showed that the percentage of medication errors at the prescribing stage
was 93%, transcribing was 4%, and dispensing was 3%. Furthermore, in the
results of the analysis using the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) method
based on the identification of 26 failure modes using the Pareto concept, it was
found that there were 3 failure modes at the Jagasatru Community Health Center
and Pulasaren Community Health Center which were priorities for improvement.
The priority failure modes at Jagasatru Community Health Center are the wrong
name of the drug, the wrong drug, the wrong dosage strength. Meanwhile, at the
Pulasaren Community Health Center, the patient's name was wrong, the name of
the drug was wrong, and the number of drugs was wrong.. The use of the failure
mode and effect analysis (FMEA) method can provide an understanding of the
risks that may occur and can provide a basis for designing effective prevention
strategies in an effort to improve patient safety at the Pekalipan District Health
Center, Cirebon City. Recommendations for improvement include increasing
communication and coordination between doctors and pharmacists.