Narrow Results Clear All

Resource Type
Approach to Improving Safety
Safety Target
Setting of Care
Clinical Area
Target Audience
Error Types
Origin/Sponsor

Search results for "Active Errors"

1 - 20 of 241 results
Download Selected Citations

Show: 20 | 50 | 100

Press Release/Announcement

Eliminating Serious, Preventable, and Costly Medical Errors - Never Events.

Baltimore, MD: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Public Affairs; May 18, 2006.

This fact sheet provides information regarding the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' initiative to better understand and minimize never events.

Journal Article > Commentary

ISMP medication error report analysis.

Cohen MR. Hosp Pharm. 2006;41:405-406.

This monthly selection of medication error reports discusses a mistake with chelation therapy agents due to similar acronym use, confusion of drugs similarly named in different countries, and inadequate information about changes to an existing drug.

Special or Theme Issue

Special Issue: Patient Safety.

Ergonomics. 2006;49:439-630.

The 13 articles in this special issue cover topics on the role of ergonomics in patient safety.

Newspaper/Magazine Article

Death due to pharmacy compounding error reinforces need for safety focus.

ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute Care Edition. June 15, 2017;22:1-4.

Compounding pharmacies prepare medicines for patients that aren't available as commercial products. Reviewing a case involving a pediatric patient who died after receiving a compounded oral liquid suspension that contained the wrong medication, this newsletter article discusses weaknesses in compounding processes that contributed to the incident. Recommendations for pharmacies to reduce opportunities for error include independent double-checks and designated areas for compounding activities.

Journal Article > Study

Quality of handoffs in community pharmacies.

Abebe E, Stone JA, Lester CA, Chui MA. J Patient Saf. 2017 Apr 27; [Epub ahead of print].

Handoffs present a significant patient safety hazard across multiple health care settings. Interruptions and distractions, which can interfere with handoff communication, are prevalent in pharmacy environments. This cross-sectional survey of community pharmacies found that virtually none of the pharmacists had received training in how to hand off information. A significant proportion of responses indicated that pharmacy information technology systems do not support handoff communication. Respondents reported that handoffs are frequently inadequate or inaccurate. The authors conclude that interventions are needed to enhance the quality of handoff communication in community pharmacy settings to prevent dispensing errors.

Journal Article > Study

Reducing error in anticoagulant dosing via multidisciplinary team rounding at point of care.

Sharma M, Krishnamurthy M, Snyder R, Mauro J. Clin Pract. 2017;7:953.

Anticoagulants are considered high-risk medications due to their narrow therapeutic window and association with adverse drug events. This study suggests that integration of a clinical pharmacist into the inpatient team may help prevent anticoagulation dosing errors and resultant harm to patients.

Journal Article > Commentary

Responsible e-prescribing needs e-discontinuation.

Fischer S, Rose A. JAMA. 2017;317:469-470.

E-prescribing is a key strategy to improve medication safety by addressing illegible prescriptions, order omissions, and dosage confusion. However, there have been unintended consequences such as the inability to discontinue medications ordered electronically. This commentary reviews problems associated with this unintended consequence and suggests that enabling electronic cancellation of prescriptions can help address the issue. A WebM&M commentary discussed a case involving an electronic prescribing error.

Journal Article > Study

All consumer medication information is not created equal: implications for medication safety.

Monkman H, Kushniruk AW. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2017;234:233-237.

Medication management in outpatient settings requires patients to recognize adverse medication effects. This expert review study found that standardized information from a large Canadian retail pharmacy lacked key information about possible adverse effects and drug interactions. The authors suggest that this information gap leads to an urgent and addressable patient safety risk.

Special or Theme Issue

Insulin Pens Devices.

Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2016;73(19 suppl 5);S1-S47.

As a high-alert medication, insulin has the potential to result in serious patient harm if administered incorrectly. Articles in this special issue discuss recommendations developed to address risks associated with pen injector practices and the results of an improvement initiative to enhance the safe use of insulin pens. Mentoring and safety culture are highlighted as areas that support improvements.

Newspaper/Magazine Article

Prescribing errors that cause harm.

Rider BB, Gaunt MJ, Grissinger M. PA-PSRS Patient Saf Advis. September 2016;13:81-91.

Prescribing errors can have harmful results. Analyzing prescribing error reports submitted over a 12- year period, this article recommends strategies to reduce risks associated with prescribing, including use of computerized provider order entry systems and standard order sets.

Journal Article > Study

PIPc study: development of indicators of potentially inappropriate prescribing in children (PIPc) in primary care using a modified Delphi technique.

Barry E, O'Brien K, Moriarty F, et al; PIPc Project Steering group. BMJ Open. 2016;6:e012079.

Although certain medication classes pose increased risks to children, well-defined criteria for potentially inappropriate prescribing for pediatric patients have not been established. This study described an iterative consensus-building process which identified 12 indicators of potentially inappropriate medications for children. Future studies will test the validity of these indicators.

Journal Article > Study

Standardization of compounded oral liquids for pediatric patients in Michigan.

Engels MJ, Ciarkowski SL, Rood J, et al. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2016;73:981-990.

When pharmacists make up an individually prepared solution of liquid medication (a process known as compounding) for a pediatric patient, there is a risk for dosing error. This pre–post study demonstrated that implementing a standardized protocol for liquid medication compounding for children was well-received and widely adopted by pharmacists.

Journal Article > Study

Using simulation to improve first-year pharmacy students' ability to identify medication errors involving the top 100 prescription medications.

Atayee RS, Awdishu L, Namba J. Am J Pharm Educ. 2016;80:86.

Pharmacists can intercept prescription errors before they reach patients. This study found that an educational intervention that combined didactic lecture and simulation methods enhanced first-year pharmacy students' ability to identify prescribing errors. These results demonstrate the value of developing pharmacy education to improve patient safety.

Tools/Toolkit > Fact Sheet/FAQs

FDA and ISMP Lists of Look-Alike Drug Names With Recommended Tall Man Letters.

Institute for Safe Medication Practices. June 2016.

Mistakes associated with look-alike medication names are a safety concern in health care. Tall Man lettering is one recommended strategy to reduce confusion associated with similarities in drug names. This list includes medications recognized by clinicians and professional organizations as those suited for the application of Tall Man lettering to make their use safer.

Web Resource > Multi-use Website

Standardize 4 Safety.

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Standardization has been highlighted as a way to improve safety in surgery, care transitions, and medication administration. This initiative seeks to develop consensus guidelines and a set of standard concentrations to reduce errors associated with concentrations and dosing of liquid medications. The process for submitting comments on the first set of materials is open.

Newspaper/Magazine Article

Do not let "Depo-" medications be a depot for mistakes.

ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute Care Edition. March 24, 2016;21:1-4.

Confusion due to look-alike and sound-alike medications are known to contribute to medication errors. Describing errors associated with a certain medication naming convention, this newsletter article offers recommendations to reduce risks related to these drugs, including labeling clarifications, storing medications separately, barcode scanning, and staff education.

Journal Article > Review

Medication safety systems and the important role of pharmacists.

Mansur JM. Drugs Aging. 2016;33:213-221.

Preventing adverse drug events is a major priority for accrediting and regulatory agencies. This review describes a framework for medication safety systems, including design considerations to integrate safety across the medication use process and unique roles for clinical pharmacists. Elements of the framework address risk awareness, barriers to error reporting, and the need to utilize performance improvement methods.

Cases & Commentaries

Good Night's Sleep Gone Wrong

  • Web M&M

Christine M. Gillis, PharmD; Jeremy R. Degrado, PharmD; and Kevin E. Anger, PharmD; February 2016

Presenting with a cough and shortness of breath, a woman with end-stage renal disease was admitted to the medical floor after undergoing hemodialysis. She was given allergy and sleep medications at her home dosages. The next morning the patient was extremely drowsy and unresponsive to painful stimuli. A "Code Stroke" was called.

Journal Article > Commentary

Recommendations and low-technology safety solutions following neuromuscular blocking agent incidents.

Graudins LV, Downey G, Bui T, Dooley MJ. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2016;42:86-95.

Administration errors involving high-alert medications have the potential to cause serious patient harm. This commentary discusses one hospital's effort to reduce errors associated with neuromuscular blocking agents. The authors used root cause analysis to identify weaknesses in labeling, storage, and packaging methods, and implemented guidelines to reduce risk of errors involving such medications.

Press Release/Announcement

FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA cautions about dosing errors when switching between different oral formulations of antifungal Noxafil (posaconazole); label changes approved.

MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; January 4, 2016.

This announcement alerts prescribers to differences in two oral formulations of the same medication that can lead to dosing errors. The FDA suggests that clinicians specify dosage form, strength, and frequency on prescriptions for this drug to reduce the risk of patient harm and recommend that pharmacists follow up with prescribers if such information is missing.

Back to Top