Medical Abbreviations Used in Clinical Practice: Common Usage and Standardisation
Sharma.Sunanda.
Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Sharda University, Greater Noida, 201310, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Subba.Dil Prasad
*
Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Sharda University, Greater Noida, 201310, Uttar Pradesh, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Introduction: Doctors and health professionals commonly use medical abbreviations to ensure rapid communication in clinical practice, especially in the fast-paced environment of a hospital where time may often be of the essence. More importantly, these abbreviations must be used correctly so that patient safety and proper documentation are ensured.
Aim: In this review work, an attempt will be made to compile, classify, and highlight 300 commonly used medical abbreviations in a hospital setting for their relevance in drug safety, diagnostics, documentation, and clinical risk management.
Materials and Methods: Data were filled into Microsoft Excel for graphical presentation and analysis, while Microsoft Word (version 2021) was used for the preparation and formatting of the review. Terms were obtained from the medical abbreviation database by the American Health Association, Google Scholar, and Research Gate. The review contains 250 generalised abbreviations and 50 laboratory-specific terms.
Results: Around 30% of these 300 abbreviations pertain to drug use or drug safety (LASA, ADR, OTC); 11% are oriented to diagnostic-laboratory procedures (CBC, HbA1c, MRI); and 9% relate to documentation and care/protocol procedures (MAR, CPOE, SBAR). An additional 7% were focused on clinical risk and patient safety (e.g TALLman lettering). According to post-training data, 17% were able to document faster, and 26% observed fewer medication errors.
Discussion: This structured categorisation of abbreviations shown in Fig. 1 and the list of medications mentioned on Table 1 sheds important light on their usage to facilitate clinical workflow, documentation, and patient safety. If properly understood and taught, they can greatly reduce miscommunication and prescribing errors in healthcare.
Conclusion: Being a narrative review, it is expected to be used as a reference for health professionals and students to enhance the degree of familiarity with the language of standard medical abbreviations aim being to facilitate safer, more efficient, and more transparent clinical communications.
Keywords: Medical abbreviation, LASA (look-alike sound-alike), health care documentation, patient safety