Which safeguard can help reduce the risk of high-alert medication errors?

Improving access to information plays a critical role in reducing the risk of high-alert medication errors. High-alert medications are those that carry a higher risk of causing significant harm if they are used inappropriately. By ensuring that healthcare professionals have ready access to comprehensive and accurate information regarding these medications—such as dosing guidelines, potential interactions, patient-specific factors, and monitoring requirements—the likelihood of errors can be minimized.

Access to information empowers healthcare providers to make informed decisions, enhances their understanding of complex medication regimens, and supports patient safety initiatives. Improved information flow can be facilitated via electronic health records, clinical decision support systems, and readily available drug reference tools, all of which contribute to better-informed prescribing and administration that keep patients safe.

Other options, such as removing clinical decision support systems or adding more paperwork, do not effectively enhance safety and may instead complicate processes or obscure vital information. Similarly, increasing the number of medications does not inherently improve safety and could further complicate medication management. Thus, enhancing access to information stands out as a crucial measure to mitigate the risk of medication errors.