Medication errors continue to occur despite long-standing efforts to reduce them. This article summarizes types of errors submitted to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices reporting program in 2021. The piece discusses the medications involved, recommendations for improvement, and technologies to be employed to minimize error occurrence.

Technological solutions harbor unique risks that can result in patient harm. This article shares a response to reports of automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) menu selection limitations that contribute to mistakes. The piece suggests the implementation of a 5-letter search requirement prior to removing a medication from an ADC. It provides an update on industry response to this forcing function recommendation.

Criminalization of medical mistakes typifies the blame-focused approach patient safety leaders have worked to reduce in health care. This article covers a high-profile case of medication error involving an automated dispensing system that is ubiquitous in health care.

This updated report outlines 19 consensus-based best practices to ensure safe medication administration, such as diluted solutions of vincristine in minibags and standardized metrics for patient weight. The set of recommended practices has been reviewed and updated every two years since it was first developed in 2014 to include actions related to eliminating the prescribing of fentanyl patches for acute pain and use of information about medication safety risks from other organizations to motivate improvement efforts. The 2022 update includes new practices that are associated with oxytocin, barcode verification in vaccine administration, and high-alert medications. 

Shortcuts in automated data entry behaviors have potential to result in errors. This article discusses search term length requirements for automated dispensing cabinets and the importance of doing a proactive failure analysis prior to implementing any system conditions to minimize unintended consequences of the rules that could detract from safety.

Medication safety is improved through the sharing of frontline improvement experiences and concerns. These articles share recommendations to reduce risks associated with distinct areas of the medication use process. The topics discuss areas that require specific attention during the COVID-19 pandemic such as the use of smart pumps and automated dispensing cabinets.

Automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) have been implemented in hospitals to improve drug administration safety, but with misuse, can cause patient harm. This newsletter article focuses on three primary ADC user-related problems and offers recommendations for reducing factors that minimize their safe use.

Drug dispensing systems have been adopted in hospitals to prevent medication errors, but accidents associated with their use still occur. This report provides comprehensive guidelines on the safe use of automated dispensing cabinets. Recommendations include improvement in areas such as stocking, labeling, and removal of expired medications.

Reporting on the criminal indictment of a nurse involved in the death of a patient, this newsletter article reviews factors that contributed to the failure, urges leadership to modify the use of blame tactics in response to medical mistakes, and highlights guidelines to prevent similar incidents.

This newsletter article reports on the findings of a government investigation into the death of a patient during a positron emission tomography scan. A neuromuscular blocking agent was mistakenly administered instead of an anti-anxiety medication with a similar name. The investigation determined various individual and system failures that contributed to the incident, such as misuse of automated dispensing cabinets, wrong picklist medication selection, workarounds of override protections, and lack of patient monitoring. Recommendations for preventing similar incidents include use of barcoding verification, automated dispensing cabinet stocking changes, and labeling improvements.