Perspectives on Safety
Our Perspectives on Safety section features expert viewpoints on current themes in patient safety, including interviews and written essays published monthly. Annual Perspectives highlight vital and emerging patient safety topics.
Interview
In Conversation With… Michael Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD (hon)
Safety in the Retail Pharmacy, October 2018
Dr. Cohen is President of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a nonprofit organization that operates the voluntary and confidential ISMP Medication Errors Reporting Program. He is also coeditor of the ISMP consumer website, chairperson of the International Medication Safety Network, and a consultant to the Food and Drug Administration. We spoke with him about patient safety in the community pharmacy, including challenges associated with production pressures and the importance of reporting concerns.
Perspective
Safety in the Retail Pharmacy
with commentary by Michelle A. Chui, PharmD, PhD, Safety in the Retail Pharmacy, October 2018
This piece reviews unique characteristics of community pharmacies that can affect medication safety and spotlights the need for further research examining medication errors in community settings.
Annual Perspective
Patient Safety and Opioid Medications
with commentary by Urmimala Sarkar, MD, and Kaveh Shojania, MD, 2016
Opioids are known to be high risk medications, and concerns about patient harm from prescription opioid misuse have been increasing in the United States. This Annual Perspective summarizes research published in 2016 that explored the extent of harm from their use, described problematic prescribing practices that likely contribute to adverse events, and demonstrated some promising practices to foster safer opioid use.
Perspective
Becoming a Certified Professional in Patient Safety—A Pharmacist's Perspective
with commentary by Zahra Khudeira, PharmD, Certification in Patient Safety, June 2016
In this piece, a pharmacist highlights the importance of earning patient safety certification.
Interview
In Conversation With… Lorri Zipperer, MA
Ten years of AHRQ Patient Safety Network: A Window Into the Evolution of the Patient Safety Literature, November 2015
Ms. Zipperer was a founding staff member of the National Patient Safety Foundation as their information projects manager and has also been Cybrarian for AHRQ Patient Safety Network since its inception. We spoke with her about the role of librarians in patient safety.
Interview
In Conversation with…Eric G. Poon, MD, MPH
Bar Coding for Medication Safety, September 2008
Eric G. Poon, MD, MPH, is Director of Clinical Informatics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Poon’s research has focused on using health information technology to improve patient safety. He oversees the development and implementation of clinical applications including computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and barcode-assisted electronic medication administration record, and was lead author on the first rigorous study demonstrating the impact of a bar coding system in a hospital pharmacy. We asked him to speak with us about how such technology can augment medication safety.