Digital patient safety interventions in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis (3 August 2026)

Summary

Digital interventions are increasingly used in primary care to improve patient safety, targeting errors and preventing patient safety incidents. This review looked at the effectiveness of digital patient safety interventions in primary care, finding that they can significantly improve patient safety by reducing medication errors, supporting earlier diagnosis and helping prevent patient harm.

Content

The review found that digital patient safety tools in primary care can be beneficial - particularly when they combine multiple features, such as automated prescribing or missed test reports for doctors alongside digital communication tools for patients.

According to the findings, digital interventions currently being used in clinics:

• improved medication safety by 46% when compared to usual care, reducing high-risk prescribing and dosing errors
• improved non-medication safety processes by 77% when compared to usual care, including faster diagnostic checks and more timely laboratory monitoring
• reduced physical patient harm and adverse events by 17% when compared to usual care, helping to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions, asthma attacks and serious adverse drug reactions

The study highlights several specific digital technologies that were shown to enhance patient safety, improve communication and treatment decisions, and reduce diagnostic delays.