Despite the best efforts of doctors and pharmacists, prescription errors will occur (More checks and controls needed in healthcare, by Mr Ong Kok Lam, Jan 22).

Even one prescription error is one too many. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has shown potential as another line of defence against such errors.

AI employs machine learning to detect pattern deviations in large amounts of data, such as prescriptions, diagnoses and treatment protocols.

One such error-detection system was tested in a hospital for 16 months and generated error warnings for 0.4 per cent of all prescriptions. These alerts were assessed by staff, who found 89 per cent to be accurate, with 43 per cent causing changes in subsequent medical orders.

AI error-detection for prescriptions has undergone trials in some countries.

Given that Singapore is seeking to position itself as a medical informatics hub, research in this area could benefit patients not only locally, but worldwide as well.

Ben Gibran