Alliance for Patient Medication Safety

Assessments: Have training and competency assessments for staff who re-label and repackage compounded products or shelf-stock supplies.

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Allergy Defense Systems
Confirm your workflow includes the following:
• Mandatory second pharmacist independent review of high-risk Rx's
• Independent data entry check
• Shift change Rx checks ("partner checks")
• Counseling and/or show and tell at the POS for all prescriptions and mandatory for high-risk Rx
• Engage the patient to confirm the right drug, dose schedule, indication, and new problems
For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS:

Corrective Actions: Be More Careful!
If your corrective actions are centered on plans to ‘be more careful,’ ‘slow down,’ ‘pay more attention,’ and similar admonishments, then your focus is probably on ‘human fallibility’ and not on truly understanding the problems in the workflow and systems. Shifting your focus to how the workflow system failed and fixing those problems will yield longer-lasting and more effective results.

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS:

SPRING CLEANING
FILLING THE PRESCRIPTION
Take a few minutes to objectively step back and examine each step in your current workflow. Review the safety nets and checks that have been built into your flow. Be on the lookout for shortcuts or workarounds that have become normalized processes in your workflow.

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS:

Patient Counseling – Flip the Script
Use communication and relationship strategies to increase the likelihood an offer to counsel is accepted. Active phrases can give you the edge to communicate critical information about for high alert medications, special risks, and significant drug interactions that might otherwise be declined.
Such phrases include:
“The pharmacist would like to talk with you about a change in your prescription.”
“The pharmacist would like to discuss with you some important safety information about your prescription.”

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

A just culture leads to a safe, positive culture!
Sharing quality lessons learned among your staff leads to improved healthcare outcomes, improved patient safety, and increased reporting.

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

FRESH YEAR…TAKE A FRESH LOOK:
Take a fresh look at medication errors.
Errors are often attributed to human error but creating a “just culture” increases the discussion around workflow solutions instead and can help reduce errors in a more productive way!

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS:

Patient-Pharmacist Relationship
What is the patient-pharmacist relationship like in your pharmacy?
Make it policy for your pharmacists to engage patients in their prescriptions. Requiring mandatory patient counseling on high-alert medications (new and refill) and implementing procedures such as “open the bag” to review the contents at the point of sale can help reduce risks.

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS: Focused Improvements

Focus change and improvement on the systems and workflow and minimize the corrective or disciplinary actions directed toward the affected individual(s).

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

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Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS: REFRIGERATED MEDICATIONS

What systems does your pharmacy have in place to void errors with refrigerated medications? You might consider one or more of the following options:

1. Do not store medications in the refrigerator door (a higher temperature area that can exceed the desired range)
2. Avoid overstocking/crowding to maintain proper cold airflow circulation between items
3. Use digital recording thermometers with/without alarms to assure compliance with regulations and to document temperature excursions that may affect product integrity
4. Do not use 'dorm style' refrigerators with an internal freezer compartment

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS: TELEPHONE PRESCRIPTIONS

The longer the person receiving the prescriptions waits to write it down, the greater the chance they may forget key information.

The read back method helps assure communication and transcription accuracy. In this method, a pharmacist first records the prescription information on a prescription blank. Then, reads back the information to the prescriber to make sure it is correct.

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS: STRENGTHENING THE DRUG SELECTION PROCESS

What systems do you have in place that prevent drugs from being chosen off the shelf in error?

- Mandatory bar-code scanning
- Separator walls on the shelf
- Using tall-man lettering for shelf-labels
- Separate storage bins
- “Un-alphabetical” storage for medications with similar prefixes (e.g., hydroxyzine and hydrazine)
- Using both brand and generic names on the shelf label (look-alike-sound-alike) medications

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS: INDEPENDENT DOUBLE-CHECK

A Hallmark of Safe Design

Ask yourself: Do you have a system that requires two technicians to independently verify correct data entry before the label can be printed?

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS: ERRORS

Human vs. System

When reporting or analyzing Quality Related Events (QRE’s), shift the focus from a human-related error to a systems-related error in order to discover ways to improve the systems that failed (e.g., workflows and environmental factors).

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

It's October 1st....the start of American Pharmacists Month! Be sure to thank a pharmacy professional in your life and stay tuned for more during October!

Your Monthly Med Safety Tip from APMS: Patient Counseling

Patient counseling is a multi-step process that includes:
• determining when counseling is needed or required per policy on high-alert medications
• choosing the appropriate intensity of depth of the professional counseling
• assessing the patient's comprehension of the drug information and/or device use
• achieving expected patient behaviors

None of the above steps will be relevant if the patient does not accept an offer to counsel. Therefore, improving the effectiveness of patient counseling begins with increasing the number of patients who accept offers for counseling. For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

Your safety tip for September!

RED ZONES:
Designate a distraction-free zone for taking telephone prescriptions and transfer prescriptions.

Protect the pharmacist taking the call by prohibiting all interruptions to a person in the Red Zone, including cell calls and texts. A successful Red Zone policy requires both appropriate space/resources and a culture of safety among employees.

For more information, or to get your Medication Safety and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started, go to https://medicationsafety.org/sign-up.php or give APMS® a call at (866)365-7472.

The Safety Tip for July!

High-Alert Drugs: Compounding Tips

Share this medication safety tip with your pharmacy staff to target improvement opportunities.

June's Safety Tip!

Are you performing independent double-checks?

Share this medication safety tip with your pharmacy staff to target improvement opportunities.

Check-in with your pharmacy. What culture and mindset of your pharmacy staff are encouraged?

How are the allergy defense systems and procedures in your pharmacy? Share this medication safety tip with your pharmacy staff to target improvement opportunities.

Pharmacists, thank you for your direct involvement in patient safety and patient care. More about here: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-pharmacist-day-january-12/

Today, recognizes and honors all pharmacists across the nation. , thank you for your direct involvement in delivering quality patient-centered care and the critical role you play in patients’ recovery. http://ow.ly/GKEB50Ht29W

First of the new year!

The first tip of 2022!

How do you handle patient counseling in your pharmacy?