Medication Safety
IT’S SAFE TO ASK MEDICATION CARD
The It’s Safe to Ask Medication Card is for people to record their medications. The purpose of the card is to:
1. Promote patient safety through safe use of medications,
2. Encourage people to ask questions about their medications, and
3. Help healthcare providers and emergency responders know patients’ current medications.
The information on the medication card will help healthcare providers conduct a best possible medication history, which is integral to Medication Reconciliation, a required organizational practice of Accreditation Canada.
INSTITUTE FOR SAFE MEDICATION PRACTICE CANADA (ISMP Canada)
ISMP Canada gives access to a number of support services, publications, and specialist tools in the “products and services” section of its website. For example, the Hospital Medication Safety Self-Assessment®, intended for use by a multidisciplinary team, allows staff to evaluate the hospital on ten dimensions related to medication safety (e.g., communication of drug orders, drug labelling and packaging, etc.) Prospective users must obtain a password from ISMP in order to enter information and have the results processed. Similar tools are available for other types of care facilities.
The institute publishes monthly safety bulletins, such as this one on the Top 10 Drugs Reported as Causing Harm Through Medication Error. Other bulletins discuss potential errors and mix-ups involving specific drugs, or general medication safety issues.
ISMP Canada also hosts the Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS), through which health professionals can anonymously report medication incidents. They have also recently released a new website, www.SafeMedicationUse.ca for consumers to report medication incidents and get information about using medication safetly. There is a newsletter prepared in response to medication incident reports that provide tips for patients and their families on ways they can help prevent adverse medication events.
MEDICATION RECONCILIATION
Safer Healthcare Now! has entered the second phase of its Campaign! In addition to the six original evidence-based interventions, based on those developed by the US Institute for Healthcare Improvement as part of its 100,000 Lives Campaign, there are four new interventions. One of the interventions, Medication Reconciliation in acute care or long term care allows caregivers to intercept errors by checking prescriptions against a complete, accurate, and readily accessible list of the patient’s home medications.
The site offers a step-by-step guide to implementing the program, detailed instructions on measuring its effects, downloadable worksheets and sample forms, and links to information calls, presentations, and other resources.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has been engaged in implementing Medication Reconciliation since 2005. Updates on its progress can be found here.
OTHER TOOLS
Consumers, patients and caregivers, as well as health professionals can subscribe to MedEffect Canada, a free service to stay informed of advisories, warnings and recalls for health products that Canadians use every day, such as pain relievers, cold medicines, prescription drugs and natural health products.
Since only a fraction of errors actually result in harm, hospitals need to specifically identify the events that cause harm in order to set about reducing them. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has developed a Trigger Tool for Measuring Adverse Drug Events in response to this need. A Global Trigger Tool for measuring other kinds of adverse events is also available.
The Pathways for Medication Safety website (USA) offers tools in the form of three guides which instruct hospitals in (1) creating a strategic plan for medication safety, (2) assessing risks, and (3) determining whether and how to implement a bedside bar-coded drug administration system.
See also Research Digest on Medication Safety.
